This Changeling Life
by Nasha Rei-Kun
Summary: Now, because of a fail-safe left behind by his overly cautious father, the Yondaime, he is stranded and lost. The thoughts of finding a new purpose are railroaded when he meets a certain white, unicorn private, Shining Armor. Then finding a wall-eyed pegasus, who'd give unto him what he most desired. A family. Naruto x Derpy. Anthro.
1. The Stranded Changeling, Fishcake

**And just like that, an idea is born!**

 **So what's up everybody (or pony, choose your like)! Man it seems like things are going to get interesting for most of the Summer,** _ **hopefully**_ **, and I'm kind of excited.**

 **In more recent news, I'll started writing this April 27th, but by the time it's done being written I'm almost sure it will be somewhere in late May. Give or take a couple of days.**

 **Currently finishing up my fifth year in college and going onto my final one, in what is 2016-2017. I'm honestly not sure to think about it. Computer science Major, and I'm about to graduate. It's frightening. Trying to get an internship, and maybe learn something over the summer. I want to be a game designer, I've taken some class, but I don't think I took it serious enough.**

 **I regret that, a lot.**

 **I've got Unity though, so I can relearn at this point. Might make a VN one day, based on one of my stories. It'd be kinda sweet, if I can. Though I'd have to do all the art myself, but maybe getting back into drawing would be good for me.**

 **All that said and done, I've got a job for the summer already, not worried about working, but I do want to hopefully get an internship somewhere down here in Houston (Texas). Also I turn 23 on the 20th of May, so this might come out that day.**

 ***Shrug***

 **Disclaimer: I do not own MLP or Naruto. Keeping these short from now on, no point to harp on and on about what we all already know.**

He idly wondered what he was to do with himself now.

The pebble skipped its way down the beaten path.

A fail-safe, his own loss of control, a repentant but determined father.

The small stone found itself captured by force again, as it skipped further down the long, vacant path.

His eyes trailed after the plain rock.

The sake of his whole village on the line, and he wondered sometimes if it was worth it. His eyes narrowed in on the stone.

A black appendage moved backwards in preparation before sailing forward.

All the pain, blood, tears, and sweat. All gone in one fit of rage.

The limb was nearly upon the pebble.

Was. It. Worth. It?

The limb stopped, just short of accomplishing its goal. It set itself back on the floor.

His eyebrows relaxed into a softer stare. The leg rose slightly, before kicking out at the stone once more, the pebble skipping farther down the vacant earth.

A saved village, revived people, a changed heart.

His lips curved at the edges, as he looked down at the holes. The leg was riddled with a few near the end by the hoof. A curiosity.

He ventured once more after the stone.

There was a saying that he always heard, but could never truly understand. One said by a man that was as close to him as Iruka sensei.

" _Most heroes don't get to stay around long enough to see themselves called one."_

Three years of training, and that was one of the few things he hadn't come to learn about in his time away from his home.

Or former home, in this case.

"Ero-sennin, I think I finally get it." He let out a small chuckle, even as he raised his hole filled leg once more. The roughed up form of his orange and black clothes, they told a tale…but his new appearance?

That told of a sacrifice, depending on how well you knew him in person. Though he wondered if he was still considered a person by this point.

He kicked at the stone, watching as it sailed farther out, before bouncing its way into a puddle of water.

He couldn't help but to pout as the rock hid from his sight. The reflection of the water a few feet away, hiding its depths.

'Aw.'

He sighed, as he walked over to the puddle. His gaze catching sight of a creature he'd very well bet no one in the Elemental Nations had probably ever seen before.

"…It's clearer than in the kunai," he muttered to himself, as he took in the reflection.

Sapphire blue, composite eyes stared back at him, not unlike those of a fly's. A long snout(?), and strangely tattered ears were on display, along with the two small fangs at the sides of the protruding lip. At its head sat what looked like fins, of a golden yellow quality, that seemed to mimic a familiar patch of hair. Or maybe it was all one thing?

He wasn't a bug specialist. He wasn't Shino, though he wondered how the bug user would take to this gathering of characteristics.

To finish off the appearance summary, by looking at the small stubs of horns protruding on its forehead, parting the "hair" at their bases. Last, but not least, those horns were of a black coloration, that matched the rest of the outer shell of this creature in the watery mirror.

Looking over at his "snout", and flickering his ears, as he turned his head side to side, he seriously wondered what the hell he was.

"I kind of look like a bug," he deduced, and it was far more likely that he was right. He'd definitely seen more than his fair share of bugs when he was a kid, and as he gained Sage Mode in Mount Myōbokuzan he'd been more than surrounded by bugs.

Especially the ones the toads ate, and fed him. Ech.

"That's a memory I'm not too big on remembering again. Ugh." He shuddered, as he tried to ignore the phantom taste of larva in his mouth.

His head tilted, as he looked up at the sky. He scratched his black, shell covered noggin.

"Wait, didn't it rain? Where are the clouds?" He wondered out loud, but he would receive no answer. No one was around.

Now that thought about it, where was he exactly?

"I'm really wondering where I am right now."

 _ **~TCL~**_

He'd been walking for some time now. He'd have tree jumped, but he was still feeling the exhaustion from his fight with Nagato. His tattered orange and black tracksuit revealed the slight amount of scrapes and bruises he held. He was almost sure the Kyuubi had something to do with this, but not like he could ask something that wasn't there anymore.

The Kyuubi no Yoko, the bijuu of nine disaster swinging tails, the embodiment of darkness of his life…

Gone.

He idly wondered about this. His father had said that the fail-safe would take the Kyuubi away. A time-space technique that would rid the ninja world of the Kyuubi before it got out of hand. He never wanted this, because he personally knew the Kyuubi's current jinchuuriki, but he always tried his best for the village.

The blond wasn't sure what to think about his father, honestly. If broken down, it was his fault all the things that happened to him in life, did.

He shook his head.

He understood why he did it all. Naruto Uzumaki didn't lay the blame on others, when they were trapped in unbeatable circumstances.

He puffed out his chest in pride. His father was a great man. Besides, he was the Hokage, and he also had to look out for the village.

Coming to a stop, he lifted a hand to his chin.

He idly wondered...Would he have done the same as his father should he have been Hokage? It was a good distracting thought.

He moved as he thought.

He liked to think that he'd definitely think of the village first, when it came to his own desires...but what if he had a family? Would he, in a time of need, push upon his son, or daughter, he wasn't specific, the responsibility? He honestly didn't know.

Holding a hand, he thinks it was a hand, to his stomach, he entertained the thought for all of a moment. He snorted in disgust.

Never. He would never push this on anyone who was barely aware of the world. As proud of the man as he was, his father was also kind of an asshole. Make no mistake, Naruto appreciates it, the Kyuubi had gotten him out of a slew of situations where most wouldn't end up walking away.

He patted his belly.

"Hear that furball, you're appreciated," he said out loud, to no avail. Not like anyone was even around in this place.

"Hello?" His holey ears perked.

'Wait?' His mind slowly caught up.

"Is somepony out there?" That voice...he didn't recognize it.

…!

Holy shit, civilization! Other people!

He quickly made himself known to whoever it was. Idly forgetting the fact that he had no idea of whether this person was with good intentions or not.

At that moment, here was a boy who'd lost everything, and was seeking some form of human or whatever contact, with another sensible living being.

"Hey! Yo! Whoever this is, I'm over here!" he shouted out into the forest, before he heard some bushes shaking to his far left. The rustling got louder, as whoever was coming followed his voice. The incoming person made him slightly nervous, as he picked at his "hair".

He _really_ hoped that this person wouldn't mind seeing a giant bug-person. Kami above, he needed some good old fashioned human-

At that moment, the "person" broke through the foliage, with a shout.

"Hey, I heard you! I didn't think there were any...civilians...out...here?" The "person" petered out, as the two males, he was sure this guy was male at least, looked at one another.

Naruto couldn't help but stare, as what could only be a bipedal, walking, talking, horse person came out of the bush. Noticing the horn on his head, the blonde touched the tip of his own pair, before getting a good look at this guy.

He was about just as tall as he was, so around 5'7, maybe 5'8. With blue hair and a tail of a darker and lighter coloration, baby blue eyes and white fur that covered his body. On his person, horseson(?), he was adorn in light looking armor. It seemed generic in make, maybe. Naruto had never really seen armor like this. He didn't look like a samurai, but there was a sword at his waist.

All in all, if he had to guess, this guy was maybe a soldier, or something.

They stared at one another, eyes locked on.

They kind of just stood there for a moment, neither sure of what they should say, or who should say something first.

"Rookie! Get your ass back here, we don't have all day! Pvt. Shining Armor where are-!" From the bushes emerged another of these horse people. With gunmetal gray fur, speckled white hair, was it a mane or hair, and tail. He was wearing a far more embroidered version of what the younger soldier was wearing, the older appearing to be in maybe his late 20s/early 30s. With other guy looking to be around his teens, maybe?

Naruto wasn't sure how horses aged, so he went with his gut.

The elder horse-person, seemed to stop and stare at him, as the younger trainee, junior officer, whatever did.

His interruption did get their brains working though, enough so that they both yelled and pointed at one another.

" **What the hell/Tartarus are you?!** " came a unison of yells, before the two looked at one another strangely, with matching frowns. The gray horse person narrowed his eyes at Naruto specifically, before resting his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Who are you? _What_ are you? And finally, _why_ are you in an sealed off zone meant for training the solar corps?" The questions were fired off with a low sounding growl, each one punctuated by a tightening of a body part, and the grip on his sword.

Seeing the elder of the two pony-people giving him a dark look, Naruto went out of his way to make sure no misunderstandings were had.

Holding up his hands in a placating, non-violent gesture, he spoke.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn't come here knowing any of that. I just sort of...ended up here. I was walking in the forest, and I just kept walking until, I don't, something happened." his words said, he looked the gray horse-person in the eyes and kept still.

* * *

Morse Code couldn't help but narrow his eyes some more. His golden yellow orbs focusing in on the pony(?) before him in great scrutiny. He wasn't even sure if this thing was a pony, even if it looked like one. From the way he looked, he seemed to have either been in a fight by the state of his clothes, or he was a bum.

The black carapace on this guy's body, made him seem like some kind of bug, but he didn't jump to conclusions. That was a rookie mistake, besides he noticed that this thing didn't tell him what he was, or his name.

That said, he did notice several things about the seemingly teen creature.

One, he seemed fairly calm for being in a situation such as this one. Most ponies would at least be working up a sweat at the hint of violence. Unless he was one of those violence-junkie types, in which case, him being out here might have held a little credence.

Two, he could see that the blonde was giving them both a curious look. Like he'd never seen a pony before. Recalling his outburst from earlier, that may very well be the case, though that lead him to wonder where this being came from if he'd never seen a _pony_.

Three, the brat, because he was convinced he was a teen at best and all of them were brats until proven otherwise, looked him straight in the eye with nary a bit of hesitance.

Confidence. That's what it was, but confidence in _what_ was the missing clue here.

Whatever this kid's game was, Morse wasn't playing it.

"State your name, and whatever you are. I will not ask again." He needed as much information as was possible.

* * *

Naruto wasn't going to say he wasn't impressed, this old guy was no joke.

A no nonsense character, who was strict and right to the book. He kind of reminded the ninja of...Ebisu, yeah, Ebisu-sensei.

Clearly, he wasn't taking his misdirection of the first two questions. That said, the blond wasn't sure what he could tell the man (what were the male equivalent for horses?), besides his name. And even then, it didn't look like they recognized what he was, so the blond wasn't sure if saying he didn't know was gonna fly.

"..." His silence was telling, as he saw the older man horse crease his eyebrows.

"I repeat, establish yourself, before I have you detained for questioning." This wasn't going anywhere fast, and the blond wasn't sure what he could do besides tell the guy what he _did_ know, and end up a suspected convict.

"You have till the count of-!" he started, and the blond just decided, speaking was better than being considered a spy or something.

"Okay, okay, hold up! Look, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, and...I'm honestly not sure what I am, or where I am." He just spoke truth, not like lying would get him anywhere, when he didn't even know where " _where_ " was.

"Wait, so you don't know where you are? Wait, you don't _what_ you are? The hay?!" The blond looked to the younger soldier, as did the older one, who nodded his head.

"The junior officer's right. None of what you said makes sense, so either you're crazy or you're _lying_." The hold on the elder soldier's sword grew strict, as the weapon slowly slid from its sheath.

Now the blond was on high-alert, as his composite eyes trained in on the double-sided sword leaving its holder.

Both the elder stallion and the blond bug-being were tense as the air of conflict began to grow. All it would take is a single move to spark action from the both of them.

A single twitch and they launched themselves at each other.

Naruto could feel the aches and pains from his battle with Pain. He'd taken quite the beating, got chakra burned inside out by the Kyuubi and had to keep fighting afterwards to ensure the peace of his home. He wasn't in good shape, so his movements were fairly down. Mind you, he was still fast enough that he was sure he could disarm the horse-man, so they could talk this out.

He really didn't need a warrant out on his head, in a place he _still_ didn't know the name of.

So with that mindset, he was prepared to make this as quick and painless, for both parties, as possible. So when a blue ephemeral wall came up between the two of them, he could be forgiven for running into it, and he would blame it on the exhaustion.

He grunted, as did the other guy, as they bounded off the wall. Both of them found themselves on the floor, rubbing their noggins before looking up at the construct of energy, at least Naruto thought it was.

The gray guy, though, looked to his junior officer, and Naruto followed his gaze to see the horned horse's horn glowing as he held up two hands to the middle of the clearing.

"Junior officer! What's the meaning of this?!" Sounds like old, gray and grumpy wasn't so happy with this. Though the blond himself wondered the same, as he turned his head to the teen horse-boy, who gave a sheepish look to his superior.

"Sorry, sir! It's just, well, I may have a solution to this, if you're willing, sir!" He saluted the gray stallion, who gave him the stink eye for a couple seconds. Moments later he sighed, and rubbed the space between his eyes before looking at the unicorn with a narrow eyed gaze, that switched over to Naruto.

"You better have a damn good explanation, when this is over, _cadet_." The unicorn flinched, as he rubbed his arm.

"Yes, sir," he sighed out, before trotting over to the mysterious being.

Naruto at this point, was now curious. He'd give the teen points for courage. Naruto challenged authority on a semi-daily basis, but he knew others didn't necessarily have that courage often.

Respect points.

"Excuse me, yo, uh...sorry about that." he was now apologizing, to which the blonde couldn't help but wave off.

"No harm, I can understand not trusting my story. It's as farfetch'd as it sounds, but it is the truth," he explained. The horned teen gave him a nod of thanks before he spoke again.

"I think the best bet here, would be to use a Liar Seek spell," he mentioned to his superior, who gave him a frown still, but now looked contemplative. With this Shining continued.

"My little sister used to tell me about some of the spells she found in the books at the Canterlot library. She showed it to me a couple of times, so I've got a pretty good idea of how it works." His words were working, as he saw Morse rubbing his chin as he looked to the blond.

"Continue junior officer." And that was good news.

Turning back to Naruto, he gave him a basic rundown of what he was going to do.

"A spell? What's that? You mean like a jutsu, right? Spell sounds like all that magic stuff, and we all know that's not real." And just like that both unicorn and earth pony looked at the blond like he just grew a second head.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that 'magic isn't real'?" the gray stallion said, to which Naruto nodded.

"Well _duh_ , that's like stuff for little kids. Everyone knows magic ain't real." The junior officer and his superior looked to one another, before the grown-up stallion rubbed his fingers between his eyes again. This was going to be a headache if he was telling the truth.

Morse Code, had never hoped so badly for somepony to be a _really_ good liar. What the Tartarus was a "jutsu" anyway?

Too many questions, not enough answers. He hated those days.

Shining turned back to Naruto with renewed curiosity, before he began forming the spell.

Naruto for his part, watched as the horned horse guy's horn began to glow a pale purple. The glow flowed from the horn, and gathered into an orb above the blonde's head. Said orb quickly grew a pupil, before staying above him.

Looking up at the eye, Naruto quirked an eyebrow, before turning to Shining horn stayed glowing. He smiled in satisfaction, before asking Naruto a question.

"So your name is Uzumaki?"

"Uh yeah, though Uzumaki is my last name." Shining blinked, before tilting his at that.

"So your name is Naruto?" The blond nodded.

"Yep."

"So why say your last name first?"

"That's because….Huh, I'm honestly not sure? I never really paid attention in class, but I'm sure they went over this." He tapped his chin, as he tried to think about why that was, Shining while curious, tilted his head upward. The eye hadn't changed colors, staying the same pale purple of his own aura.

So Naruto Uzumaki was his name. Okay, let's try something else.

"Are you sure you don't believe in magic?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, the blonde just shot him a weird look.

"Uh, yeah, why would that change?" The eye was still pale purple, but now he was curious even more so.

"Then how do you think I did this?" he gestured with one hand to the floating eyeball above the blonde's head, to which he just snorted.

"It's obviously a jutsu. Magic ain't real." Just like that, they knew he was telling the truth, but that only left them with one explanation for this.

He was indeed telling the the truth, which was kind of mindblowing, considering he didn't know what magic was, or even his own _race._

"You gotta be pretty good at doing jutsu though. There are few guys I know who can do them without handsigns." And just like that, he'd lost them again.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Wait so let me get this straight, magic is real? You're a unicorn? He's an earth pony? You guys are _ponies_?" He kept that gaping mouth look for a while as they walked. It was almost too funny, with how the blonde had freaked out earlier, when he couldn't find any of this "chakra" stuff when he went into "Sage Mode" as he called it.

They'd asked him about it, and all he could give them was a garbled mess of something about toads, insect, and lots of oil.

Twas a road that lead to madness, that one, so they dropped it.

"So, Shining was it? What are you guys doing out here?" the blond asked, causing both officers to stop and stare for a moment before Morse Code facepalmed, and Shining let out a nervous laugh, to which Morse gave him a stern look.

"You'll be cleaning the latrine tonight, junior officer." And there went Shinings hope that things had blown over. Throwing a look Naruto's way, the unknowing a changeling simply whistled innocently.

They'd been traveling for a while now, and as they moved forward the blond couldn't help but notice that the trees were thinning somewhat. That was one clue that they were transitioning to somewhere else.

The next was when he started hearing shouts, and the like synchronous chorus of "yes, sir!", "Hup! Hup! Hup!", and the like invaded his hearing senses. Ahead he could see a break in the trees, that once they passed, revealed to him what could only be a training camp.

Soldiers he'd assume, guys and gals in shirts and pants/shorts, were currently running laps around a perimeter of a track. Others were in the center seemingly doing routine calls and exercising.

Another section had horse-people, no wait _ponies_ , running a set of obstacles.

It brought him a sense of nostalgia. It reminded a lot of the academy. He could even see a couple of groups some distance away from them practicing hand-to-hand, or fighting with their swords, as others cheered them on.

Seeing the blonde's expression, Shining was quick to give him the rundown. All the while, Morse Code looked on as he saw several of his fellow officers spread throughout the area. He saw a certain group of ponies coming their way.

A male pegasus in the lead followed by two unicorns, one female and one male.

Meeting them mid-way, Morse Code separated from both Naruto and Shining, leaving the two teens to talk amongst themselves.

"So who are these guys?" he whispered to his fellow teen, who glanced to the blond out of the corner of his eye, as they faced forward.

"Those are the other members of the Royal Guard. Captain Sail Wind, and his captain-lieutenants. Lumen Glow, and Bright Glow, they're twins," Shining explained, causing Naruto to nod his head. He took notice of the fact that both the twins sent a strange look his way.

Morse code was done speaking with Sail Wind, when the duo brought his attention to the blond non-equine.

Seeing him look his way, Morse led them over.

When they got close, he took notice of the curious gaze of the male twin, while the female was sending him that same no nonsense vibe Morse did. Sail was quick to look him over for a moment before turning to Morse with a frown.

"So you have no idea what he is, or where he came from? Morse, you understand that this sounds ridiculous." The more smooth sounding voice of the Captain pegasus brought Naruto's attention to him.

Green eyes, curly yellow hair and blue fur. This was another thing he noticed about these ponies, they were every freaking color under the sun. Morse Code sighed for the nth time that day, before retelling of how things had progressed to where they were now. When he got to the part about the possible near fight, Sail Wind and Lumen glow narrowed their eyes, with the female twin turning her slightly angered gaze his way.

He rolled his eyes at her, she narrowed her eyes even further, and from there he knew.

She was NOT going to be a fan of him anytime soon. If the look was anything, she was probably super suspicious as it was.

And he was right. Not even moments later, the earth pony captain called over Shining, while the twins made themselves passage into his orb of personal space.

Twin sets of light brown fur, and dark pink hair. The separating lens for them was that while Lumen had green eyes and her hair fell to her shoulders, Bright's eyes were lime green and his hair was short in a buzz cut.

Bright Glow seemed to be curios of his looks, as he rubbed a hand to his chin. He looked the blond up and down, before leaning back and looking skyward.

Lumen on the other hand.

"I'm going to make one thing straight here…" she started, garnering his attention and a frown at the look of hostility she bore. Her hand was clenching as if to grasp something that wasn't there.

"I don't trust you. No pony does, nor should they. That junior officer is lucky that he didn't end up dead because of an unknown variable such as you," she hissed at him, which caused him to glare back at her with little fear.

Weakened as he was, the blonde felt that she was just being overly paranoid, and if it came down to it he could handle her. As he stood there though, he couldn't help but notice something in the air. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was seemingly sweet smelling and his tongue flicked across his lip as if to try and taste it.

"Sister, cool it. Seriously, it's not like Captain Code wasn't there the whole time. If things got out of hand, he would had handled it," the brother said, causing her to look off to the side, before turning his attention to Naruto himself.

The ninja raised an eyebrow, as the other rosette gave a confident smile.

"Look, while she is right that you're an unknown variable, I don't think that her sense of hostility should be so…" He tried to find a good word for it, but Naruto supplied him one.

"Obvious?" he said, to which the sister glared at how young he sounded, while the brother just laughed as he nodded.

"Hah! See, even he could tell," he said to his sister, who gave Bright an annoyed look.

"Shut up, Bright," she huffed, before turning her gaze back to the blond bug-person.

"Well, yeah, but seriously, we don't mean any harm," Lumen snorted causing him to sweat. "I mean it, uh….Yeah I got nothing. Just try not to get on her bad side, please?" he sighed, before Naruto blurted out.

"She has a good side?" That earned him a glare that could melt stone from the sister, and a laugh from the brother.

By that point the Captains had finished talking with Shining and sent off the junior officer to a large building in the distance. The duo of earth pony and pegasus walked over.

"Morse tells me, that you have no idea what you are. Quite frankly, I find all that a bunch of bull hocky, but in lieu of the fact that one of our officers had a liar scrying spell used on you, and it turned out positive, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," he said, forest green eyes flicking to the blond's sapphire blues.

"Right...so, what now?" That was the question wasn't it? When he really thought of it...What was he supposed to do? He had no identification here, besides his name. He didn't know what he was, so he wasn't sure if pony-jobs were the fit for whatever a bug-person like him did.

His tongue flicked across his lips again, involuntarily due to his new dilemma, but also to seemingly catch that taste again.

Weird.

He had no idea where to go from here...crap.

" _ *****_ _Sigh*_ , that's a really good question. Do you have any bits to your name?" He tilted his head at him, and the stallion could only shake his head.

"Bits?" He questioned.

"Yeah, bits. Little gold coins. You know, money?" This caused the blond to search his pockets, before pulling out a few gold coins...just that they weren't bits.

"You mean ryō?" he inquired, causing the captains and lieutenants to take a look at the currency he showed them. They were gold colored like bits, but they were in different shapes. More oval like, and they had little ridges on each side.

Picking one up, Sail Wind gave it one more look-over before shaking his head, causing the blond to curse.

'Dammit dad! Couldn't you have at least had the money change with me?!' his mind screamed at his father, as the quintet of four ponies and a bug-person stood around.

 ***Growl***

They all looked around for a moment, before their eyes landed on a sheepishly laughing blonde, who only groaned as his stomach went off again. Bright had a laugh as Morse and Sail let out small smiles. Lumen was unmoved and just gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" she said, in a mocking sort of tone. He just whined.

"It's been so long since I've had food~..." (T_T)

"Well, it's about to be dinner time actually." Sail reached into his right pocket, and pulled out a bronze pocket-watch. He checked the time, and nodded his head, before whistling over to a nearby pegasus.

The blond snapped his head skyward, and saw indeed that the sky had turned an orange hue. The sun was currently lower in the sky then he remembered.

Said pony nodded, before he gave out calls to get to the mess hall. Simultaneous calls were heard from captains in different sections of the camp, followed by the cheers from the junior officers.

They all watched as the groups began to converge in on the large building in the distance where Shining had gone earlier. Though many a time, he saw several ponies taking a look at him.

Some cringed, some seemed curious, some squinted their eyes and others didn't bother with any special attention.

'Huh, so maybe this won't be that bad.'

 _ **~TCL~**_

Okay so things…could be better.

So those looks from earlier were kind of indicative of what he'd be dealing with. The curious ones were definitely the best of them, with apathetic second best. Mind you, he'd gone to sit by himself, if only so he could eat in levity.

Aware from the curious ones, who thought he might unhinge his jaw or something to eat his sandwich. The indifferent ones were okay to be around, but they kind of came off as standoffish, or in worse cases, they were indifferent because they could be completely and totally unnervingly quiet among themselves.

Sitting near a group of indifferent ones, was like being near a pack of yakuza, no if's and's, or but's, he couldn't eat near people like that.

He took a bite of the strange meat sandwich, and couldn't help but twitch as he heard an inaudible gasp somewhere in his right vicinity.

He let out a sigh, allowing his sharp teeth to the world, getting another small gasp.

He grit his teeth, and obviously went without saying, what happened.

Turns out, some ponies _really_ didn't like bugs. They shied away from him at every possible moment. If he even looked in some of their directions, they'd pull their heads down or look away.

It was unnerving in a different way. It almost reminded him of what it was like back when he was a kid, and trying to make friends at the park.

 _Almost_. Too bad, there was also a fourth group that seemed to want to fill that niche in his life again.

All too eagerly.

He didn't even need to do much for this group. They always had their eyes on him, even worse so than the curious ones. Always watching, always seeming to wait for him to mess up. The gazes were one thing, but the glares were another.

"Kami, take a picture why don't you?" he muttered, as he could feel the glares of _someone_ burning through the back of his skull. In that moment, once he had a good idea of the direction, he snapped his head to the east, catching the gaze of Lumen, and a small well of her friends, though he wondered if she could make those.

She narrowed her eyes at him, before he rolled his eyes once more and turned back to his lunch, missing the look of anger that she sent his way. Her little crew of both genders seemed to be of the various groups, but at least a third of them shared her opinion.

Ignoring them, he was about to get back to his food, before he found a tray now resting across from him, held by white fur covered hands. Looking up, he caught sight of Shining Armor,a s he smiled down at him, causing the blond to blink.

"This seat taken?" he asked, though it was really rhetorical or polite at this point, but the blonde shook his head, and gave a small smile.

"Nah, the only pony who was sitting there was some guy called "nothing". Real strong, silent type that one, but he's always willing to give up a seat." he joked, to which Shining grinned, both of them digging into their food, his a weird meat sandwich, and the unicorn's a sandwich made of a...dandelion?

He stared for a moment, before looking at his sandwich, then shrugging.

To each their own, ponies.

When he bit into his sandwich once more, he couldn't help but think it tasted weird once more. Like seriously, it tasted kind of...watery? The taste was, okay? Sort of, but you could tell the difference if you had real beef before.

Seeing his expression, Shining spoke up.

"What's up?" he asked, before taking a bite of his own sandwich. Naruto gave him a conflicted expression.

"Is there something wrong with the meat here?" The unicorn gave him a confused frown, before had an "ah-ha" expression.

"You've probably had REAL meat before right?" This left the blond confused.

"'Real' meat?" He parroted with fingers for air-quotes for emphasis. Shining nodded.

"Yeah, what you're eating is a meat substitute. It's usually reserved for griffon soldiers when we have cross military meets. Well there are some pegasi who prefer meat, but having real meat is kind of looked down upon in Equestria," he said in a whisper, causing the blond to blink several more times, before he took another bite of his sandwich.

He's had far worse. Still beat out bugs though.

By a LONG shot.

It was as they were having this little exchange, that Naruto saw something on the unicorn's right hand.

"Hey Shining, what's with the tattoo?" he inquired, as he finally had some decent conversation. He'd been noticing everyone had this weird tattoo like thing on their hands. If they were male it was on the right, while female had it on the left. The unicorn officer simple grinned in pride.

"This? This is my Cutie Mark," he said, showing the blonde the marking, rolling up his right shoulder sleeve of his short-sleeved shirt to reveal an even bigger version of the mark on his deltoid. Naruto looked confused.

"Cutie Mark?" It sounded so...girly. Like seriously, who NAMED this thing, a little girl?

"Yeah, I'm going to assume that you've never seen one before?" The blond shook his head in the negative, causing the multi-blue maned pony to mumble.

"Than you've definitely never been in Equestria before." The blonde just shrugged, as Shining went on to explain.

Apparently Cutie Marks were tattoos that appeared on the arms and butts, flanks, of ponies when they found out their "special talent". Shining Armor's was apparently shield "spells", not jutsu.

It was in the midst of this conversation, that the two were joined by a certain male twin of Lumen's, which caused the mare to glare over in Naruto's direction once more. The blonde could only feel the chills going down his neck as her glare intensified. His tongue flicked outward involuntarily, as that sweet smell was back again.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" His question was met by an enthused greeting by Shining.

"Pretty good sir! Naruto's just getting used to the idea of fake meat. That and I was explaining these." he finished his sentence by pointing to his exposed shoulder. Bright simply grinned, before turning blonde with that expression.

"Yeah, I was wondering, I don't see a Cutie Mark on you, so you're not a pony. Though maybe you're a late bloomer." He eyed the blonde's shoulder with interest. Enough so, that he began to feel uncomfortable, but there wasn't much for him to do about it.

Now that he thought about it.

"Are there some showers around here? And maybe somewhere where I can patch up my clothes?" They looked at him, thinking for a moment, before Bright snapped his fingers.

"I can patch those up for ya! I'm used to sewing my sister's clothes, so that shouldn't be a problem," he said proudly, before giving the blond a look over.

"Don't you want to get out of those things though? I mean, I can lend you some clothes, I've got spares in my bunk." The blond frowned, and took a really good look at his clothes, but shook his head in the negative.

"These clothes are really dear to me. If I had to compare it, they're like a memento of my late teacher." They frowned solemnly, catching their expressions he did his best to relieve them.

"It's no problem, I mean it. It's not like you knew, besides I came to terms with it, not too long ago." Even if he was trying to get them to relax Bright flinched, while Shining looked uncomfortable, more so now than before.

Naruto sighed, before he tried to steer the conversation into another direction.

"So, you can sew?" he asked, to which Bright Glow gave a nervous smile, causing the blond to frown.

"Well, yeah, I mean. Ever since me and sis were on our own, someone had to take up all the chores, and well...Let's just say dad wasn't very close by to really do anything." He scratched the back of his head, before Naruto just nodded his head. He wasn't planning on delving into the pasts of his...acquaintances? He'd like to call these guys his friends, but he wasn't even sure if he was gonna stick around to make those kinds of bonds.

Turning to Shining, he hoped for a less solemn backstory at this table of males.

"What about you Shining? You got any hobbies?" This caused the unicorn to brighten slightly, before his cheeks went slightly red, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, um, I mean. _Nah_ , I don't have any weird hobbies? Me and my little sister couldn't cook to save our lives. I bet Spike is the one that cooks for her...Nope no hobbies, just plain old Shining! Heheheh, oh no," he said nervously before seeing the smirk on Bright's face.

"Hey Naruto, did you know that Shining over here is an avid collector of comic books." The blonde didn't know what they were, and gave him a weird look.

"Comic books?" They looked at him, like he had just said blasphemy.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto could only stare up at the ceiling, as he lay in the improvised floor bedding he'd been given. He was currently situated in a shed near the other barracks. He'd basically done his best to move things around so he could relax on the floor, and Shining had been pretty cool with helping move things around so he could place the blankets they gave him down on the ground.

He stared in the dark of night, as moonlight shone through in the small lone window in the shed. He sighed, before turning on his side.

"What should I do now?" That was the biggest problem he had at the moment. To put things into perspective:

-He was alone, and stuck in some world he knew nothing about.

-He had no real currency to his name, though Morse and Bright suggested that he could sell his coins to get some bits.

-He changed races, somehow, but it's not like he knew how ponies would react to a human anyway, so that wasn't that serious.

-He...What did he have to do here?

That was the worst one.

He was a ninja, it's what he wanted to be all his life. Pass academy, become genin, beat Sasuke's sissy looking mug off his face and bring him home, and become hokage.

None of that beyond become genin was gonna happen. Though that little bit about being a genin did get him to snort.

He'd done things, and seen things, most genin would never experience in their careers. Not like it mattered now though.

'...Do they have ninjas here?' he thought, as he turned on his side again, doing his best to make himself comfortable. What could he do?

He entertained the thought of maybe joining these guys on their way through the end of the training camp. He mentally went over his body, and could nod in satisfaction as he could feel the sores and pains had lessened considerably after he'd gotten some food.

He was at...maybe 60%, which was more than enough from what he'd seen of the junior officers here. He remembered Shining saying that the camp would be coming to an end in the coming days. They'd be going on a miles long march through the forest, and circling around on a trail through some mountains to a place called "Canterlot".

He'd been noticing that there were a LOT of horse puns.

'Hopefully, nothing happens so I can just think about this some more,' were his last thoughts, before he closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

Morse Code sat with Sail Wind and the other higher ranking officers. His eyes trailed over the the commanding officers, and fell on the two captain-lieutenants of Sail's.

"So, what do you think of him?" somepony spoke up, and the rest followed with some form of acknowledgement of the question.

Bright Glow seemed to scratch the top of his head, minding his horn, before looking to his thin lipped sister. She was looking none too pleased with him earlier, and he was sure she was still slightly miffed with him.

"Permission to speak, sirs," Lumen spoke first, and he wasn't surprised to see the look on her face. She didn't like Naruto in the least, and would probably make that perfectly clear in this meeting.

"Permission granted lieutenant." And here came the exposition, as she stepped forward from him.

"Thank you, sir. I feel like I share the right opinion that none of that blonde's words should be trusted," she started, which caused Bright to frown. Morse and Sail looked to one another, before turning back to her with raised eyebrows.

"Continue," Sail said.

"I don't like the circumstances surrounding the appearance of a thing in the forest near the training camp. Especially when we're so close to the end of the camp, where we will be returning to Canterlot. His story is beyond ridiculous, even with the testimony of junior officer Shining. No offense, Captain Morse Code, but I just don't believe that a spell casted by a junior should be an end all, be all to a decision such as this." Her piece said, she stepped back into line with her brother.

The congress of officers spoke amongst themselves as they mulled over this information. What Lumen had said was true.

A random passerby coming out of nowhere, that had no knowledge of the very country they were in? On top of that, there was also the fact the blond seemed to be lacking in some of the most basic knowledge of their land to begin with. To top it all though, was that he didn't even have an idea of his race!

All those things by themselves were hard to believe, but topped on top of one another? It was reality of the situation that "Naruto" shouldn't really be anywhere near Equestria.

Morse Code couldn't help but chew on his lip, as he recalled when the blond and he were to come to blows hours ago. The blond was unknowing of where he was, but he was also a fighter. He'd even seemed like he'd been in a fight to begin with.

Sail Wind was of the mind that the blond was to be watched, but he wasn't truly behind the idea. Naruto seemed to be fairly clueless for the most part, but that could all be an act.

"Lt. Lumen, you are aware of the fact that Shining's spell knowledge does come from his sister correct? Young as she is, she does attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." Lumen nodded to this, and slightly chewed her lip.

"Correct sir, but Shining does NOT. He could very well be more inefficient with the spell than his sister, and it could have failed at points." Not a truly solid possibility, but it was true that Shining was a specialist in _shield_ spells, not general ones.

"What do we do with him though? Unknown as he may be, we can't just release him into the forest." That came from somewhere in the room. Bright searched for who it could have come from but came up with nothing. That said, this also sparked some form of response from those gathered.

"Do we just keep an eye on him?"

"Should we assign him to a troop of our best, and have them deal with it?"

"We could just detain him here, and leave on ahead. We'll send somepony back to get him once we're all situated in Canterlot."

"Should we cuff him? We've got a few magic cancelling bracelets for when the trainees get rowdy don't we?"

And multiple other suggestions of such a nature were thrown around. Bright couldn't help but frown, as he listened to it all. Looking to his sister, he saw no sort of emotion on her face, but she caught his eyes, and they narrowed.

'This is for the best,' Her's said.

'None of this is right.' His brow scrunched slightly.

'It doesn't have to be.' Her's were relaxed as they remained impassive.

'So we'll just basically imprison somepony based on a hunch?' His expression tightened more so, as did hers.

'If it'll keep you safe, then YES!'

Morse Code closed his eyes, and heard it all, before turning his head towards Bright Glow.

"Lt. Bright," his words cut off the siblings mental conversation, before Bright turned and saluted the Captain earth pony. This caught the attention of the room, as they all centered their eyes on the unicorn lieutenant, who sweated slightly.

"Sir?"

"We spoke earlier about something of importance, do you mind revealing what you've found out?" This caught the room's attention, as Bright reached into his pocket, before retrieving a set of spheres.

Dark purple, and perfectly round, they were unassuming in nature. They even bounced, so most would assume that they were used for more mundane recreational activities.

To those that knew what they were though…

"Are those?" someone's question rang out, before Morse nodded, as Bright's hand left the orbs, but they didn't drop from the air.

"Light Bending Alibi Ball, name pending," Sail said, as Morse nodded, before they turned back to the tan unicorn.

"At 1820 hours, Lt. Bright went and joined the table of the 'Naruto' and junior officer Shining Armor. I had him carry the equipment, so we could conduct a test without the blonde's knowledge of it." This caught most of the room by surprise, sans Bright and Sail. Lumen looked to her brother, who scratched his short rosette hair.

"Yeah, I went about doing my own kind of investigating. I had one of our own lie scrying spells on hand, and had it running the whole time," he said, causing somepony to ask.

"So what did you find?" Bright gave a thoughtful expression for a moment, before smiling.

"He seems sincere enough. He was open enough that he was forthcoming with a lot of answers. He seems kind of...dim, but not in a bad way. If I had to say, he's slightly socially awkward, or more informal than anything. The attention in the mess hall wasn't really helping things," he stated, as Lumen turned away from him, though other officers were curious.

"Attention?" This question had the male twin frowning.

"Yes, his mannerisms, his looks and even what he eats. For the most part, I would say that me and junior officer Shining Armor were the only two he actually spoke to. And that's not even from the lack of trying." This caused the officers to murmur amongst themselves.

Morse nodded his head, as Sail brought his questions to the forefront of the meeting.

"Did you happen upon anything telling at least? You and him seemed to be cordial enough," he asked with his hands held together behind his back. Bright seemed conflicted.

"Some things, yes. His favorite food was something called 'ramen', he's had real meat before, but can digest various food groups. He seemed to be lacking in some basic things, but for the most part...The only thing I can truly say, is that he's lost somepony recently. His teacher, apparently recently passed. When I mentioned throwing away his current garments he asked to instead have them fixed, or at least in a stable state," he finally said, after some mulling over, though the frown he had on his face said he wasn't too fond of sharing that last bit.

Bright honestly didn't think that the blonde was bad. He honestly seemed like he was lost. Like he didn't know what to do.

It made Bright feel bad.

"I'd also like to bring to attention something," Morse code spoke up, before retrieving a gold coin from his pocket.

It wasn't a bit, that was for sure.

"What's that?"

"This ladies and gentleponies, is a currency that the blonde had on him when we asked if he was without money." He held it up, and all in attendance, minus those who'd already seen it.

"He called this 'ryō', and he's unfamiliar with the concept of what a Bit is." This sparked a question from the group.

"Did you take this while he wasn't looking?" Morse actually chuckled.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't. He let me haveit, after I asked for it. He honestly has no idea where he is, and I suggested that he should try and get this turned into some of our currency." This caused the rest to murmur, as Bright sighed in relief and Lumen frowned.

"All those gathered here, I believe that what morse is trying to say is, that we might actually be dealing with a unique case here."

From there things progressed.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Morning After…**_

Naruto only looked around as he saw every one of the ponies packing something. He felt kind of uncomfortable as he stood there, waiting for someone to speak to, or more like finding Shining or Bright.

"I see you're up and early today. I'm surprised, I imagined you'd be sleeping more." Coming behind the blonde was Sail Wind, whose own blonde hair moved in the breeze as Naruto's own.

The ninja hadn't flinched at all when the officer came up behind him, but did turn to him. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah well, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Both here, and in general." This caused Sail to nod his head, as he thought back to the discussion from last night.

'He really has no idea what to do.'

They both just kind of stood there for a moment, before the blonde kind of just stared at him expectantly, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Yes?" He inquired, as the blond just grinned nervously, before shrugging.

"Isn't there something you want to ask me? Like to do something, or better yet to know something?" Consider his curiosity peaked, sail wasn't expecting the blond to have caught onto this, but when he considered the way most of the officers were treating him…

"You're right, I do want to ask you something. You understand that we don't fully trust you…" The blonde genin nodded his head in the affirmative.

"To be fair, we were thinking of just letting you go. You have no reason to be with us, and we have no real reason to keep you here. We'd give you a small set of rations, and some money and send you off." This caught the blonde off-guard as he looked at the captain, before he looked to the side conflicted.

"You sure that'd be a good idea? I can't imagine that this was just something you just decided to do to be nice. Besides...I'm not even sure where to go from here." Sail Wind simply nodded, as they looked over at the moving officers. The last sage of Mt. Myobokuzan spotted Shining, and waved at him, as he saw the unicorn teen moving a set of sleeping bags.

The white unicorn tried to wave back, but only just found himself overwhelmed by the his luggage and was now in a pile of the sleeping articles, causing those around him to laughed, Naruto included from where he was.

Sail simply watched as the blond did this, and closed his eyes in contemplation, before opening them again.

His mind was made up.

"We're going to be traveling for a few days, before we make our return trip to Canterlot," he stated, to which the younger blond nodded his head.

"Yeah, Shining and Bright told me about how close this thing actually was to being finished," he injected, while Sail nodded once more.

"You have no direction, no way home and no idea of where you truly are." He watched as the blonde listened, and noticed that dip in emotion when he said that the blond had no way home, which matched with what they knew.

The blond was truly stranded.

"We decided that maybe keeping an eye on you until we get back to Canterlot, would be a better option," he said straight faced, all the while Naruto came to the slow revelation of what he was saying, before he coughed into his fist.

"Right. I understand, completely. I'll try not to cause any trouble." Sail had to smirk at that.

"Good, so while we keep an eye on you, why don't you help Jr. officer Armor with his duties." He said offhand, only to find himself talking to air, as the blond was already on his way to Shining's side and pulling bags.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The following days had been slightly interesting, if the only because he was seeing the side of Bright he wasn't expecting.

Watching the unicorn that was currently tossing and turning a pan of rice, as he added eggs and vegetables to it. The lieutenant hummed as he carefully added a couple more turns, before sharing out the rice to the next available trainee.

Naruto and Shining were one of the few who'd gotten their food first, and by the end of it all, they sat near by Bright, as he was on cooking duty.

Eating some of his fried rice, the blonde could appreciate how much of a mean cook Bright actually was. The rosette had some serious kitchen skills, as he and Shining could attest to. He tugged the outfit he now wore. A long sleeve thin white shirt, and dark blue sweat pants.

Bright was currently patching up his tracksuit, but the blonde was fine with waiting.

"See, I told you he was one heck of a cook," Shining bragged, as he nearly finished his own plate. Naruto merely smirked.

"I'll give you that, he's a damn good cook," the bug-man said, to which Shining nodded his head enthusiastically. They continued to eat, before being joined by a certain set of twin lieutenants.

Lumen was as pleasant as ever, if the sneer she sent his way was ever telling. Bright merely grinned at them, as the duo of brother and sister sat down. Strangely enough, Lumen made sure that the two of them sat across from him and Shining. He'd sighed, but he'd been getting used to the cold treatment from her and a few select others.

Better than anything he guessed. At least they weren't going out of their way to antagonize him.

"So I hear you guys were enjoying a master chef's cooking over here. I figured I'd come over and see what all the noise was about." The other males grinned at him, before Naruto spoke.

"Yeah, real masterpiece. The rice and vegetables come so finely together, I can taste angels in my mouth." Shining eagerly nodded his head in conjunction. Bright was quick to lap up the praise, as Lumen sat at his side, but if the blond was seeing right, she was smiling slightly, as she ate her meal.

Until she caught him staring, and frowned at him, causing him to whistle to the side.

"So how much longer do you think it will be until we get home?" Hearing Shining's question the blonde turned his attention back to the two males, Lumen mirroring his action.

"Hmm," Bright thought about it, as he took a bite of his rice. He was about to open his mouth but.

"Ahem, I hope I don't need to remind you to NOT talk when your mouth is full." Hearing his sister, caused him to freeze in place, before he swallowed audibly, causing the two younger males to snicker.

"Err, uh, right. Like I was about to say, we're maybe a good two or three days away from Canterlot. Most of the next few days will be spent traversing through the mountainous region though. Not only the terrain, but there are some sleeping Scorpoleons on the path through the mountains," he said, causing Shining to gasp, while Naruto looked confused.

"Scorpoleons? The heck is that?" he asked, as he looked for an answer from both the males, but it came as a surprise that it was Lumen who answered him.

"Scorpoleons, scorpion-chameleon family. Shape of a scorpion in form, sizes ranging from pony sized to maybe a story or two. Poison is lethal, and must be vaccinated almost immediately upon being administered within 20 mins of injection. Special skills: Invisibility," she shot off, textbook style information. The blonde, male rosette, and bluenette all just stared at her, before Bright just laughed.

"Yep, that's sis for you. Always the textbook, but that's why we love her!" he said with a laugh, as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. The blonde was about to laugh, but hiccuped, as he smelled that sweet scent again, and quickly covered his mouth.

Watching Lumen get flustered was pretty alright though.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He looked up at the mountain, as the group marched on.

They'd come across the mountainous path some time ago. Maybe half a day's travel in, and the blonde couldn't help but feel slightly creeped out. The mountain was pretty large, and apparently, there was a city at the other side of it. That said, they were going to go around the side and travel up the large uplift of rocky terrain.

He didn't know why, but he felt an ominous vibe coming from the mountain. He would have stood there a little longer, but he felt someone pat him on the back.

"Ready for this?" He could hear from his left, as Bright Glow passed him. The blonde was currently carrying a few of the bags, as was everyone else. That said, the blond was almost 100% sure that he got left with more bags than most anyone else. That or the heaviest, if he was seeing everyone in front of him right.

He could see out of the corner of his eye, Morse Code and another Captain he didn't recognize speaking to one another. Shining was somewhere ahead of him, speaking with a couple of the others. He found it weird, just how ostracized he felt right now.

A lone bug-man-thing on an island situation.

Looking up once more as they moved, the blonde couldn't help but notice how strange this mountain looked. While there was greenery here and there, the rock sections seemed to be cleanly separated.

It was like a literal perfect trail. Then again this apparently wasn't the first ever time that an army assortment had walked these pathways.

He looked up and far as he saw a ledge on the mountain that they'd be passing over probably somewhere down the line.

"Something the matter Uzumaki?" There was Sail Wind bringing up the rear with him. The blonde turned and acknowledged the elder one, as he came out of his thoughts.

"Just got some really bad feelings about the place up ahead," the genin stated, to which Sail frowned, as he too turned his head to the destination ahead. He couldn't help but understand why his fellow younger blonde might be feeling this way.

The ledge in the distance looked remarkably unstable. It had given him those same feelings back when he'd first done these training marches.

He reassured the teen bug-guy that things just seemed ominous. For the most part that they'd done this before, and as such nothing would happen that would interrupt their way home.

Leaving the blonde to his thoughts Sail walked on ahead. Naruto once more thought about the idea of 'home,' and couldn't really shake his funk. Besides the bad feeling from the that archway, the idea of what he was going to do still alluded him.

While he was thinking on this, he didn't see the last person who began to pass him. Looking up as he caught sight of medium length hair that went down to her chin, Naruto called out to the pony in question.

"Hey Lumen!" He must have shocked her because she froze mid-step, as if something impossible had happened.

He shrugged it off, not important.

"Uzu...maki?" She slowly turned and gave him a confused raise of an eyebrow, as if he was some sort of weird phenomenon or something, which had him rightfully miffed.

He pouted.

"Hey wait! Why are you saying it like that? That's kind of rude, doncha know?" He felt the indignity setting in, but her expression turned from confused frown, to impassive indifference again.

"Why I do the things I do is my business, and mine alone. Now speak, or this conversation is going to be a lot shorter than you're expecting." Is what she said, but internally she wanted to know _why_ he called out to her, curious she was.

He rolled his eyes at her once more, before getting straight to it.

"You were telling us about those 'Scorpoleon' things, and that's got me wondering...how do you defeat one?" His inquiry must of shocked because her expression changed from one of impassiveness, to shock, and than to a confused frown.

"And why pray tell, do you want to know that?" He gave her a familiar looking expression.

"Why I do the things I do is my business, and mine alone." She wasn't amused.

"I can see this 'conversation' _was_ short. Thanks for wasting my time, Uzu-"

"Fine! Fine, geez! Take a joke will you?" He gave an exasperated look, to which she returned one with an annoyed frown. Seeing her expression he grumbled, before being straightforward.

"I don't think things are going to go well once we reach the mountain, so I want to be prepared for anything that might go wrong." She scrunched up her nose at him, and turned away, but she kept a pace where she wasn't _outpacing_ him.

"...Scorpoleons aren't known to be very distinctly hard to subjugate. The relatively small ones of their size range should be turned over on their sides or backs. They can be stabbed in the soft underbelly for a quick kill. No matter the size, ALL of them carry lethal venom in their tails and such the stinger should be avoided as much as possible," she sited off, as they walked, though he found something interesting about what she said.

"Okay, good to know, but what about the bigger ones?" She didn't even stop when she answered him.

"You _don't_ fight the big ones. Anything that goes beyond the size of a single house is to be ignored hopefully, and retreated from in the worst case," she stated with finality, causing the blonde to frown.

"Is two-stories the biggest these things can get?" he asked, but she didn't answer right away.

"Official records state them at maxing out at 2 stories."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...and unofficially?" he finally asked.

She didn't answer.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He looked up at the moon and star filled sky in contemplation. He idly thought about his friends back home. What were they doing? Were they mourning him? Were they able to rebuild the village?

He simply kept looking up, he wouldn't be bothered by anyone here. He'd taken a few meters away from the camp set up, on the mountain trail, and as such decided some "me" time was necessary.

"Naruto? I knew I saw you coming out here!" The voice of Shining Armor broke through the silence of his immediate area, the blond couldn't help but sigh, he did smile though. Shining was the closest thing to a friend that he had in this place.

"Shining, what's up?" he asked, as the unicorn settled in next to him. Standing side by side, they simply watched the stars, time stretching between them.

"So what's on your mind? You kind of just wandered off, after talking to Captain Wind." He tilted his head in curiosity, and the blonde let out a sigh, as that was brought back to the forefront of his mind.

"I'm just...Not sure what I'm supposed to do at this point Shining." The unicorn hummed for a moment.

"What do you mean?" The blonde sent him a conflicted smile, before he let out a breath.

"When I told you guys about me being here with no clue, I was telling you the truth. That said, I didn't tell you the whole story behind it. To give you an idea, I've been training nearly my whole life to be a warrior, plain and simple. It's always been my dream since I was twelve. Four years later, and I'm in a fight to save the village I lived in," he explained, but Shining frowned.

"But something happened and now you're here?" The bug-teen nodded.

"Right. I...I did something that came with repercussions, and now I ended up here. Looking like this," he waved an arm over his form. Shining thought about what he said for a moment, before his eyes went wide.

"Wait are you telling me…?" Naruto nodded.

"I never looked like this where I'm from. I used to be what was called a human, as a matter of fact. Let me show you."

"What are you about to do?"

"Show you a jutsu. Watch **Henge no-**!" he started, but something unexpected happened.

He envisioned his normal self like he would in a normal **Henge** for any other reason, but before he could actual start churning the chakra for the technique, his body lit up in orange, energy like fire, and the next moment he looked like himself. His human self.

Shining looked on in wonder as he saw this "human" form of his blonde semi-sorta companion. The blonde himself seemed in wonder as well, as he scrutinized the features he now bore, or bore again in his case.

"Whoa, dude...This is what a human looks like?...Kind of remind me of monkeys, except you're less hairy, and you know. No tails." he gestured to the blonde's features, before ending by wagging his own extra appendage. Though he started to worry, when the blonde former-bug guy looked at him with a frown.

"Something's not right. I didn't do the jutsu. I just thought about how I looked and, 'boom' here I am. I've never been able to do that before, and I shouldn't have been able to without making handsigns. Something's not right about this." He gave Shining a look of annoyed confusion, before the unicorn asked him a question.

"So you've never been able to do this before?" he asked, to which the "human" nodded. Shining reciprocated the gesture, before asking some more.

"So this is new to you?" Another nod.

"You shouldn't have been able to do this without these "handsigns" thing. Not only that, but you know this isn't right?" Another set of nods, which had Shining looking at Naruto, who blinked.

"Maybe it has something to do with what you changed into when you came here?" Shining would never been as smart as his sister, but he was still intelligent. As Twilight liked quoting from that textbook of hers:

There's a cause and effect for everything.

Naruto took the words in for a moment, before running them into his head. He let it move for a bit, before he nodded to Shining.

"Let me try something." The human version of Naruto closed his eyes, before he was enveloped by another flash of orange energy, and in his place stood Shining Armor.

Shining simply stood slack jawed as his friend changed over and over again.

First Shining.

Bright Glow.

Morse Code.

Sail Wind.

Lumen Glow.

Then he changed into, what Shining could only assume was more "humans".

A pink haired girl.

A man with hair that veered to the left, with a mask over the bottom of his face.

A woman with huge, ahem, "assets." Some of the largest he'd ever seen.

A girl with long violet hair, in a large coat.

Finally a teen with hair that short up near the back like a duck's tail, with two bangs down the sides. His eyes were red with commas in them.

Then the blonde was back to his "bug guy" form, frowning.

"So this really is the new 'me'," Naruto said with a tone of finality, before turning to look at a nervous junior officer. He smiled at his unicorn friend.

"Look, we learned something new, but that's not what's important. What is...is that basically I've got nothing to live for at this point." Shining frowned, and the blonde held up a hand to stop any possible insinuations that might get thrown around.

"Don't go off the deep end. I'm not saying that I plan on falling into a depression anytime soon, especially when I just came out of one. What I'm saying is, is that I've done nothing but fight my whole life. What am I supposed to do now?"

Shining understood what the blonde was saying, now more so since he explained it. What could he do?

"Before you ask, I don't really have that many other skills. I do enjoy taking care of plants, but AS A HOBBY!" he said, stopping Shining from raising that single finger of his any further. "I've done construction work, sort of, before, but that's it."

Shining scratched the back of his head, as the both of them continued to stare up at the sky, minds in turmoil.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They'd made it to the mountain and were a good distance from where they entered.

Naruto, once more saddled with bags that seemed larger than the others, kept pace with the other pony officers as the group began to move towards and under the arch that they'd seen from earlier.

Said arch was pretty big. It seemed to be made from some pretty bulky stone.. Smooth boulders that sat on top of one another from the edge in the ground, to the top of the arch where it smoothed out towards the middle all the way to the bit where it connected to the mountain.

All in all, it was another weird thing he jotted down as just "Equestria stuff."

They were currently slowly trekking through the middle bit of the arch way, whose peak extended just a bit over 5 ponies high at it's peak. Getting a closer look at it, he couldn't help but notice just how smooth the stone actually was. Those of the other groups thought so as well, as they all stared at it for a moment, before moving on.

Naruto stopped and stared for a moment, as that ominous feeling came back. He observed the stone, before getting his sleeve tugged on by Shining, as the unicorn pulled him back into place next to him. Taking the blond away from the steep drop by the trail they were following.

"Come on, we gotta stay together, Captain's orders," he said in a hushed voice, causing the blonde to take his eyes off the stone arch's connecting foot. He looked back one more time, before nodding and the two caught up with the rest of the troops.

Falling into rank next to Shining, who was in rank with one captain officer on each side, whom the bug-teen couldn't recognize, they marched on, their feet were taking them around the mountain, which upon its other side was Canterlot.

Naruto could see ahead to some of the other groups, keeping an eye out for one of his other recognizable companions.

Morse and Sail were at the middle of the lines on each side of the formation, while Lumen and Bright were near the duo as they were near the back, but still ahead by maybe 2-4 lines.

Naruto couldn't help but see Lumen focusing on the cliffs above them, as look out. She let her eyes move to and fro, before taking a moment to find his catching hers. She surprised him by nodding her head upwards at the cliffs, and the ninja moved his head in that direction.

He looked and looked, but saw nothing, as they moved.

All of a sudden a single stone pebble fell from a cliff top up above. The sound of the rolling stone caused everyone to freeze, as they all watched the stone pebble fall, before passing it off as nothing. The stone rolled to the side of the formation where Lumen stood staring at it.

Naruto for his part felt that ominous feeling from before increase by tenfold, as he stared at the pebble. He stopped in place, and closed his eyes, Shining stopping and frowning at him, as he did.

The unicorn was about to say something, before he noticed that yellow and red lines began to trail up the sides of the blonde's eyes. The moment they looked complete though, he snapped his eyes in the direction of Lumen, and seemed to blur to her.

Most didn't know what happened next, because it all seemed to happen too fast.

The blonde had reached Lumen before anyone was even aware. After which, he grabbed and then threw her in the direction of her brother.

Lumen could only watch in slow motion as _something_ hit the blonde from the path, _off_ of the cliff. All could only watch as the blonde stayed airborne momentarily, before time sped back up again.

Yet that didn't stop them from hearing the blonde's yell.

"We're surrounded!"

The world summarily erupted into chaos, as a screech erupted from the previous location of the blonde bug teen.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Shining could only gape, as did Bright, Morse, Lumen and Sail, as they watched the blonde fall over the ledge.

Most of those who saw it happened couldn't even believe it. Yet, that wasn't what spurred them into action. It was when the blonde's shout finally registered in their ears did the severity of the situation kick in.

 _*Screeeeeeccchhhh! *_

They could all hear them.

"Troops to the defense! Break off into groups of 5 each. I want two groups to a damn animal! Never turn your backs on them!" Orders were shouted by Morse, as the world became a cacophony of screeches and screams.

Scorpoleons.

Those of higher command broke off into even numbers for each group, each once getting 1 commander and two lieutenants.

Shining found himself in a group of Lumen, Bright and Morse, with he 9 other junior officers falling behind them with involuntary movement as they held their lines together. He could see the fear in the eyes of the other juniors. Heck, he probably had some himself, but his mind was focused on other things.

Like wondering whether Naruto had survived the fall or not.

"Jr. Officer Shining Armor, and all other unicorns, Barrier spells NOW!" Bright shouted, as his sister and he stood side by side.

The call for barriers were quickly answered as each group was covered by a shielding construct made of energy.

From which silence had fallen.

He could hear the breaths of his fellow officers going rapidly. Some of them were probably still in shock at having somepony...disappear like that. He was still reeling from it, but he shoved it down for later.

No mourning on the battlefield.

Lumen seemed like she was in the shock of her life. It must have been beyond shocking to have somepony, who you didn't get along with, basically save your life at the cost of their own.

He looked around at all the other groups, as they stopped moving, shields in place. He couldn't help but try to stretch his hearing to around them.

All those in attendance could only listen, as the scuttling of the scorpoleons rang about them. Shining was almost given a heart attack when something hit his shield, the defensive construct letting out a muted bang, as the invisible animal hit it.

Letting his heart slow down, he grinned as the beast couldn't get past his defense. Giggling slightly in relief, he turned back to the others inside, as Morse Code went about trying to come up with a plan.

"We need a strategy. Sight is compromised, and we're being held down, by heavy forces. The enemy is possibly 10 or more strong, and we've allocated 13 officers to a presumed 10 units of opposition," he laid down the full grasp of the situation that they had, all the while the twins were looking to one another in worry.

"We're dealing with Scorpoleons, sir. We need a way to identify the targets for any assault to work." Morse knew that, but the headache to deal _that_ particular problem was still going to come.

They all looked to Morse for orders, and seeing this, he sighed. He thought of what they could do.

-They needed to be able to actually see the enemy to pull off any offensive right now.

-At the same time, the beasts couldn't get into the shields, thank Celestia, but that wouldn't last forever.

-Third and last, they needed to find out where that goddess forsaken sound was coming from!

"DATTEBAYO~!" It was a series of shouts of similar wording, but that was just it. Where the heck was it coming from?!

Those all around were wondering themselves, before there were several crashes at particular points by each of the formation. Following each crash was something that sounded like breaking stone, and a squishy noises, each followed by a shriek of what could only be the scorpoleon.

When the dust settled, many found themselves surprised to find a very interesting sight of several familiar looking black carapaced covered beings with yellow eyes.

Those in Shining's spell could only look on in confusion, before a shadow dropped down in front of them, with a large swirling ball of light.

" **Odama Rasengan!"**

The world to the right of Shining erupted into a pastey looking green of insectoid innards and body parts, as the orb of light expanded and dispersed.

Standing in the center of it all without a single bit of gunk on him was…

"Naruto!" Shining called out in relief. The bug-teen simply smiled, while giving a thumbs up.

"Glad to know I made it in time. I honestly wasn't expecting the fall to take nearly as long as it did, but well, I found a way." There was movement from the blonde's back, showing a long thin wire like tail, that ended in a set of yellow, thin sharp looking prongs.

"Holy crap, you're alive!" Bright exclaimed, as the rest of those in attendance nodded. Lumen looked like she'd seen a ghost, as the blonde looked them over.

"Good to see you guys are all good. Smart move on the barriers." He was speaking so casually! Like he hadn't just utterly demolished a pony sized invisible scorpion! Morse asserted himself to the front of the group, all the while looking at the blonde with a frown.

"Look I'm glad you came to help, but we still need to handle the rest of the-" Naruto finished for him, with a question.

"The scorpoleons?" he said with a tilt of his head, before turning back to the other sets of groups in barriers. The others followed his gaze, gaping at what they saw, as the bug-teen smiled.

"I hope you don't mind that I might have made this a little bit easier for you." They all took in the scene of several more messes of scorpoleon innards. Several of which were slightly bigger the others. Not only that, but by several other shields were explosions of color, various hues and the like.

Most importantly though, was the multicolored scorpion shapes they could all see from within the defensive spells.

There were 6 in total. Each of them various different colors, but the scope was the sizes of them.

All were pony sized.

They all could only look on in awe, before the blonde smirked.

"I'd like to think that it's time for your come back," he said, where earth pony captain smirked himself.

"Troops! To battle!" The fight was on.

The pony captains and their lieutenants were quick to overturn the tide of the battle, once they could see the former-invisible enemy.

Scorpoleons were tipped and overturned by the combine brute force of the earth pony officers. Pegasi were used to be quick and efficient to aim for the soft undersides, while they were given defense by their horned compatriots and Naruto's clones.

Bright and Lumen held up the shield for their captain as the junior officers locked down both of the claws. Morse Code ran to its unprotected face, and took out both of its eyes, before leaping backwards. The lone beast was all that was left, only to find itself lifted by a currently yellow composite eyed blonde bug-teen, before being slammed on its back, only to be finished off by a pair of Shining and another unrecognizable trainee.

It let off one more loud shriek, before going limp.

The groups as a whole cheered as the battle was won. Junior officers hi-5'd as they met up in the center of the path, while captains and lieutenants had their own forms of congratulations in handshakes and words of encouragement.

Lumen found herself in a hug from her brother, causing her to flush, before she returned it. Morse Code simply wiped his brow.

Shining was currently hi-5ing another officer, before he turned to do the same with Naruto, only to find the blonde looking over a the archway in concern.

"Hey Naruto?" he called out, but the blonde seemed to only focus on the large stone overpass to care. Bright and Lumen came over, smiling and flushing, respectively.

"Awesome job out there! Man! I didn't expect you to just come out of a fall like that, but when you did, it was amazing!" Bright's praise fell on deaf ears, as the blonde was still looking over at the arch.

'What is this?' He could feel something. It had been a thing he noticed when they were fighting, but it seemed like, with each defeated scorpion-like enemy, this feeling grew stronger.

And it was in this direction, right behind them.

Morse Code looked over to the group, and was about to call them over, before the blonde's eyes widened.

Then the trail shook.

It was a small rumbling, but it caught everybody's attention, as they looked to the ground in confusion.

Sail Wind cursed.

"Did we upset some of the geography?! What's going on?!"

"No…" Shining and the twin lieutenants turned to Naruto, who had a determined look on his face.

"Something worse."

Then those on the trail had all their eyes widened, when the "Stone" archway began to lift itself from its place connected to the floor. The large boulders in the side of the mountain shook, before coming loose, as did a good subsection of the floor that the Scorpoleons probably came from.

All said and done, once things stopped moving, everyone just stared. Gazes going higher, and higher.

And higher.

At it's peak, the arch of the _tail_ was at least four stories in height. The body itself looked like the mountain, as if someone had taken an ice cream scooper and removed a chunk, with rocks protruding off the edges.

Eyes that were 8 in number and white in color stared back at them, before the large pincers came to rest in front of it.

All in all, most ponies simply fell on their knees, as the being stared around them. It looked around at the bodies of dead scorpoleons, before focusing in the gathering of ponies. Its head tilted, its eyes narrowed, and it screeched.

Shining couldn't do anything but let his sword drop, as did most of the others, as the noise blasted their eardrums. Their minds failing to come up with any sort of plan that might enable them to get away. Get away being the only option, because to fight _this_ , was suicide.

Not like they had much options in running away, besides maybe falling down the mountain side. Which while Naruto might be able to live through, they could not.

This was it.

'Sorry Twily, your BBBBF is not going to be coming home any time soon, or at all. Bye mom, and dad, make sure that when Spike visits that he remembers there was a brother who showed him hoofball cards.' His eyes closed in finality of what was to come, as the largest variant raised a pincer, easily the size of a large one story home to sweep them.

'Cadance...I never got to tell you how much I really liked you.'

The pincer came down swinging, and most could only watch as it did. One second it was down on them, the next it flew to the side accompanied by a shout of "Dattebayo~."

They only watched in complete and utter confusion as the blonde bug-teen floated for a moment before landing back onto the floor. Back to them, he turned his head to Shining, whose eyes snapped open in confusion.

"Don't go dying on me right now Shining. It'd really suck to have you doing something like this while I'm right here," he said with a smirk, as he turned back to the large insectoid. All the while he cracked his knuckles, as his tail whipped about.

"Naruto...What are you?" Shining asked, before the blonde grinned.

"Didn't I tell you…" He turned back to humongous scorpoleon. He stopped for a moment before blurring to the front of the beast's 'face', a fist cocked back.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

His fist flew.

And so did the beast.

Its body flew with great velocity before impacting the side of the mountain it bore from, cratering the rock face.

"Shinobi!"

And so began the fight, that would span a tale of one pony and the goliath.

And most would say it was built off the legend of an ant vs a scorpion.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They say that nothing was impossible. Most ponies took it as purely a metaphor. It was a comforting phrase, that helped push those beyond their mental boundaries to try harder. To push, excel and win.

At that very moment, Shining was very sure that whoever said that line, that he'd want to meet that stallion or mare, give them the biggest hug in the world and buy them a full course meal.

Because he was sure they were speaking the literal truth, as he gazed at the impossible.

It was bug like, stood on two feet, didn't know what a comic book was and was blonde.

The impossible named Naruto.

Said bug-person was currently situated, sitting, on top of the large scorpoleon.

Correction, the large _corpse_ , of the scorpoleon. Which now lay in a large perfectly spherical crater in the mountain.

Some scant few trails of greenish teal blood ran down his face, his hair matted by it. His borrowed clothes of white long sleeve and blue sweats bearing wear and tear all over, his pants barely counted as shorts at this point. His right sleeve was currently missing, self-torn to wipe some of the blood off, and he was staring down at them with an accomplished grin.

"So when do we get this 'Canterlot' place? Also Bright I might need my clothes back, if _this_ is going to keep happening! Mine are WAY more durable," he said casually, as if talking about the weather.

Most fell to their knees, while others fainted. Lumen was currently foaming at the mouth, last he checked.

Shining?

He was laughing like he'd just won the lottery.

* * *

When Night Light opened his front door that day, he'd had his wife and daughter present. Twilight, currently nine, had even gotten Spike from Celestia's care to greet her brother when he returned today, the adopted little drake was currently situated next to his sister clamoring on about how Shining would show up with something really cool. Like a scar, or some mega-weapon. A tale of some battle that would be told for years to come.

In the future, Night Light would commend Spike on his four year old, ability of precognition, during his son's wedding.

Opening his door, he was greeted by the sight of not only his grinning son, but also the nervously smiling form of a bug-person next to him. The bug person was currently bearing a pair of medals around his neck, in the form of the Royal Guard military.

"Mom, Dad, Twily, Spike. I'd like you to meet my friend Naruto." He waved over to the blonde in the patched up orange and black tracksuit, who waved nervously.

"Uh...Hi?" From outside, Twilight Velvet could see multiple ponies staring at the back of the blonde in question. Some gaping, while others stare in utter wonder.

Twilight simply stared at her brother's friend, before tilting her head cutely.

"What insect family do _you_ come from?" she wondered out loud.

"Giant bug!" Spike grinned like the little boy he was.

Shining scratched the back of his head, as his father let them in. Along the way, Twilight and Spike kept looking at the bug-teen, all the while asking questions.

Velvet and Night Light looked to their son in slight confusion.

"Um, Shining, son, what's going on?" Shining's father said, as he watched his adopted dragon son, hang from the tail of the stranger, while Twilight turned his arm over and over while looking at it in wonder. Shining scratched the back of his head.

"Right, crazy story about that. Um...Do we still have the guest room? Also when is the next time Cadence plans on coming over? I wonder if my old room would still work?"

"Shining…" Twilight Velvet called out, as Shining stopped. Twilight and Spike simply continued their childish ministrations as the blonde bug looked on.

"Oh right. Mom, dad, you mind if Naruto crashes here for a little bit?" he asked sheepishly.

The blonde in question, just blinked.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 **That's a wrap people! At least for this chapter.**

 **15k+ words...What a hell of a comeback chapter, and in this new story to boot!**

 **That said, this is just to set up Naruto's relation with Shining's corp, Shining and his place of stay. Temporarily, he has to get his own place eventually, but he will be basically what is family sometime down the line.**

 **That said, we'll get to see Naruto x Derpy goodness next chapter. Worry not, for this IS a Naruto x Derpy story.**

 **I just have an unusually bit compulsion for well thought out beginnings!**

 **So with that said, I hope you guys enjoy this one, we're in for a hopefully short story of maybe 4 chapters. Will they all be this length? God I hope not. Because after this story, I plan on starting what will be my first truly LONG multi chaptered fanfic.**

 **It was one of the prompt titles from my Naruto/MLP story, Apple Thief of Everfree. Shameless plug is shameless.**

" **Opieto" - An Obito Uchiha MLP/Naruto fic. The pairing will be a harem with the pie sisters, so look to that in the future, you lovely ducklings.**

 **If that's all, I'm gonna go rest now. This was finished on May 21, 2016. One day after my birthday!**

 **So cheers!**

 **~NRK Out~**


	2. Slices of His New Life

**We are back once again! With a vengeance! Now there's not a lot I really have to say about in this bit at the top, so we'll just move on to the story itself.**

 _ **~TCL~**_

Twilight Velvet was many things.

A mother of three, a writer of notable worth, and "best mom" as denoted by her son Spike.

She was also patient, and understanding. She had to be, having had to basically raise three children, though luckily, no more than two at a same instance and occasion.

"Um, excuse me, Naruto?" she started out, causing the buggy teen to look up at her from his position on the tree's side. Sitting parallel to the ground, as he held a stick with a string on it holding a gem, while Spike did his absolute best to try and catch it.

Seeing the mother of Shining giving him a worried look, he smiled before allowing him to to fall off the tree and land safely on the ground, handing a slightly tuckered out Spike the emerald gem. The tired drake child simply grinned, before stuffing his prize into his mouth.

Kids truly were simple sometimes.

Stretching, he eyed the mother of three.

Twilight Velvet seemed like she was pretty used to shenanigans when it came to her kids. Bearing pale lavender and white striped hair and tail, a pale gray fur color, and light baby blues for eyes. On her left hand was what looked like three purple stars. She was dressed in a pair of slightly puffy gray blouse, with a white skirt.

Eying him slightly, she couldn't help but wonder.

"I couldn't help but wonder. It's been a month, and I don't think I've seen you in anything other than that tracksuit you're fond of, or a long sleeve and sweatpants combo," she noted, to which the blonde froze.

He didn't know why, but that trail of thoughts she was probably having was setting off the alarms in his head. Was there something wrong with him wearing what he got from the royal guard for clothing?

All day, every day. Except for those few times, that he wore his tracksuit?

Why was this trail of thoughts worrying him so?

"Uh, yeah. Shining and the other guys from the Royal Guard gave them to me, when they found out about my...lack of other apparel," he said in an unsure tone. Velvet's eyes closed as she thought, her brows coming together as she put her mind to use.

Night Light was out for work elsewhere and Shining was at the Royal Guard HQ in the Princess's castle going through drills. Naruto would have gone with him, but they wouldn't be taking the blonde in just yet. Something about making his verification paperwork? Besides the point, Twilight, her daughter, was currently also at the castle, studying under the Princess.

It was just her, Spike and Naruto. The only reason Spike was here was because Velvet had asked for him to be. Plus, the little drake seemed to grow greatly attached to the bug-teen. Stating that, and she quotes, "He's different from everypony else! Like me!".

She'd honestly felt a little heartbroken by that. That her _son_ , as he was nothing less than that, could speak such words of alienation. It was of the many reasons she asked for him today.

That said, she couldn't help but open her eyes, and turn her gaze on the blonde teen, as he flinched under her stare. She looked for a little longer, before nodding.

"Boys, or really Spike, time to put on some outside attire. We're going clothes shopping!" She declared with urgency, causing the blonde to show an expression of horror, as Spike was simply chewing on his treat.

The life of a child was truly blissfully ignorant.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Come on you two! We're simply going to get a few clothes for Naruto, and maybe even get Spike a new onesie," Velvet said with enthusiasm, holding Spike's hand, as the group traveled the streets of Canterlot's marketplace.

Naruto could only grumble behind her as they walked. His mind filled with the future torture of being thrown through a hurricane of clothes, and apparel. His mind drifted back to the few times he and Ino hung out, usually with either Chouji and/or Shikamaru present, and he noticed that she'd almost always be ready to shop when he was around.

To this day, he still wasn't sure why.

As they passed shop after shop, the blonde allowed his eyes to wander.

For the most part, from what he could gather from Shining and the rest of the guys and gals in the Royal Guard, Canterlot was basically a place for royalty, nobles and the well off. The place was pretty well kept. Streets were clean, light fixtures were luminescent and the ponies were, for the most part, as snooty as one would expect.

He watched as another pair of ponies passed, their eyes catching his before they shoved their noses high into the air.

He rolled his eyes at them, before making a rude gesture, causing them to look appalled. He snickered some, before he got hit in the back of the head by a purse by Shining's mom, or "Shiny" as she called him.

The blonde still wasn't going to let that one die. He had to get his mileage, and Bright would get his.

Junior Shiny was going to be a thing.

Rubbing his "injury", he turned back to catch Velvet's stern disapproving look, causing him to wilt. He'd never known a mother's love, but he already knew that he didn't like a mother's disappointment.

It was more than a little bit unnerving.

" _*Sigh*_ Naruto you shouldn't do those kinds of things in front of Spike. You know that he looks up to you, almost as much if not more so than Shining," she said, bringing his attention to the small drake.

Spike was currently looking at him in confusion as he sucked on his thumb. Those eyes of emerald green seemed to search his soul in that moment of eye contact. Once seemingly done, Spike turned his head back ahead, as Velvet nodded.

Naruto scratched the back of his chitin covered head, before slumping.

"Sorry~" He let out in a drone. She smiled at him.

"I know that some of the ponies around here can be a bit...standoffish," he snorted at this and mumbled a few things. Her glare kept him silent. "But that doesn't mean you should let them get to you," she finished sagely, before looking both ways and leaning in.

"Besides, they have a pole shoved so far up their plots, I'm sure they lift their nose so high up so they can breath." She whispered to him, causing him to look at her in shock, before he laughed.

Oh this mare!

She laughed herself, as Spike looked on confused. Looking down at the drake, the blonde ruffled his head fins as they moved on.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Why, oh why did he tempt fate?!

Currently he was standing in front of Velvet as she looked him up and down. His current set of attire was a pair of jeans, with a white undershirt and a dark blue vest. Giving him one last look-over, she laughed sheepishly.

"I guess Nighty's clothing style doesn't really fit you," she said. He sent her a look, before sighing.

He had a feeling this was going to be...interesting.

The next moment found the blonde ninja in a set of white long cargoes with an orange sweater-jacket top. The top left unzipped so that he could see the black shirt underneath that bore the sign of a crossing set of halberds. The collar came up enough that he could pull his head down slightly to cover his mouth, if he wanted to.

Velvet looked him over once more, before she nodded at him.

"That looks so nice!" he smiled nervously at her.

"Great, so we'll just take this and-" she threw him a look.

"Naruto that's the first outfit. We still have so many more to go through. One for formal occasions, informal occasions, funerals, weddings, PTA meetings…." and she trailed on. That list had more points than he had inches in height!

The next moment had the blonde in a tux. The blazer was open to show the white dress shirt underneath, and the black dress pants were seemingly made of the finest silk.

He turned himself over in it as he looked in the mirror.

Okay he didn't mind the suit as much as he thought he would, so that was a plus. The downside was apparently that this suit was for his _wedding_.

How far ahead did this mare try to think? Next thing you know, he'll be looking at the suit he'd be wearing for his _own_ funeral!

He spotted Spike just sitting there in a giant purple bunny onesie. He was currently nibbling at the end of his spade-like tail, idly sucking on the edges.

At least one of them was enjoying this.

"Ooh, we've got pick one up for the day of Shining's promotion to lieutenant!"

He sighed.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He shuffled in place, as he sat in the chair next to Spike. He was very aware of the stares he got, as Velvet shuffled through the clothing aisle after aisle, before setting herself up in front of them.

The blonde eyed the mountain of clothing articles with trepidation.

Sweet Kami! They were going to be here all day! Unless…!

'Naruto, you're a genius!' he couldn't help but to pat himself on the back.

This plan couldn't possibly backfire!

He chuckled sinisterly, as he walked over to Velvet who was trying to decide what combination of blouses to choose.

"Ahem! Hey Velvet?" he tried to get her attention.

"Hold on, Naruto, I'll try on the first set soon! Now would this do good with my….mumble, mumble," she didn't really hear him, but that was okay, he had a sure-fire plan for this.

Velvet was currently trying to choose between the maroon blouse and the wine red cardigan, before she caught sight of a flash of light out the corner of her eye. Turning to it, she froze as she found herself in the audience of…

Herself?

She slowly turned away from her mountain of clothes, to take in the sight of her mirror image. Slowly reaching up to touch her face, the copy did the same. Tapping the top of her head, it followed. It was as she got a closer look at her double, she noticed that the clothes "she" was wearing.

In all of a second, her eyes snapped wide.

"N-Naruto?" She shakily uttered, as she saw her reflection grin at her.

"In the flesh! Or in this case, in your flesh!" he said, before grimacing.

'That sounded way better in my head.'

Velvet seemed too shocked to notice.

"H-how? Why?" She was needing some help there, and so he obliged her. He held up a finger with a grin.

"Easy! I've always been able to do this. I just never showed you guys because it honestly never came up. I figured since you're going to want to try on just about every combination of clothing...I thought, might as well make this faster! Plus this! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** " The next instant there was smoke, before Velvet found herself nearly fainting in shock, as well as the other patrons of the store.

10 Velvet's stood in a line. Each of them grinning like a certain blonde teen she was getting to know.

Naruto was too happy with himself to notice the encroaching darkness of Velvet's shadow visage. His eyes closed, and grin on his face, he was ever the oblivious one.

His first notion that something was wrong, was the shiver he felt down his spine.

The second was when he noticed just how quiet it had gotten in the store.

His third was, when he felt that iron like grip on his shoulders.

So he blinked and opened his, copy-velvet's, eyes and saw his doom.

Twilight Velvet's eyes had become shining stars in the darkness that her bangs casted over her face. A mockery of a polite smile played against a shadowy background.

" **Naruto…"** he froze at the sight, but when she spoke his name, he knew right then and there.

He was _fucked_.

" **You also wouldn't happen to be able to change into a few other ponies, would you?"** he gulped audibly.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He simply allowed his head to lull backwards over the back edge of the bench. His eyes closed, as he simply tried to relax. Spike currently was by his side as they sat in the park. Velvet was long gone, with a small group of his clones carrying all the clothes both bought for him, her, and the rest of her family.

Spike had kept the onesie though.

"Ugh, Spike how you hanging in there buddy?" He used enough energy to look over at the small drake who was currently kicking his feet back and forth happily. Smiling at him, he looked over in the distance to a small cart vendor.

"Come on little man, I'll get you some ice cream for being my best friend of the day," he said as he got onto his feet. Waiting for Spike to follow, he held the little boy's hand before they walked over to the vendor of the sweet cold treats.

Several moments later, they were walking away from a confused stallion, who didn't know what kind of sick joke he was in.

A bug man and a baby dragon walk up to a ice cream cart!

What was the punchline?!

As they left a pony in a state of utter confusion, they made their way through the park proper. The ninja was happy to be stretching his legs, while Spike was currently enjoying his ice cream to the best of his ability.

Each couple they passed, couldn't help but stop and stare at the pairs. A duo of non-equines just casually walking through the park, and they were the center of all the talk going around.

Or maybe it was the sight of an adorable baby dragon in a bunny onesie? Who knew.

Finding a spot by a picnic table, the two settled down for a bit. Taking the occasional lick of their dairy treats, as they vacantly watched the world pass them by.

Taking another appreciative lick of his ice cream, Spike couldn't help but notice how Naruto, his BBBB "best big bug-bro", seemed to look at his ice cream with a small smile. The drake licked his once more, as he stared at the blond.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at the frozen treat. Mind flashing back to two similar instances of eating a frozen treat with his own teachers.

'Iruka-sensei. Ero-sennin,' he thought solemnly, before looking at Spike, who was staring at him with a curious look.

"Ice cream not good?" the kid dragon asked, causing the blonde to blink before he chuckled once more. Taking a decently large chomp, before giving Spike a grin, right before his face broke out into a pained expression.

'Why did I do that?!'

He massaged his temple as he groaned.

"Brain-freeze, bad idea. Really bad idea," he uttered, causing Spike to giggle, before he looked at Naruto again. This time the blonde noticed the look of focus on Spike's face.

"Naruto is happy?" This question caught Naruto off guard, as he looked down at his smaller male companion. Spike himself was looking at his ice cream, rolling the cone in his hand, before stopping and doing it again.

"What do you mean Spike?" The little dragon looked up at him.

"Naruto looks sad. Did somepony do something to you?" The frown on the little drake's face just made the blonde feel guilty. He didn't want Spike catching his melancholy. Especially not now.

Placing his hand on Spike's head, he ruffled his spines.

"No need to worry Spike, just thinking about somebo-, somepony, I used to know." The drake gave him a look?

"Far-away?" Naruto smiled.

"Yeah...Something like that. I'm probably not going to be seeing that person for a while. He and me used to eat ice cream like this, every now and again. I guess, I was just remembering." He said with a small smile, before Spike gave him a look. Shoving his ice cream in Naruto's face.

"Ice cream! We can have ice cream all the time. Then you can tell your friend about it!" The blonde merely looked at the slightly melting frozen treat, before his mind caught up to Spike's words, and he laughed.

The drake seemed to frown, before he found his ice cream bumping against Naruto's own.

"Yup. We'll have ice cream too. We'll try every flavor there is, and every kind there must be. Then when I meet that person again, I'll tell him all about them, and my little buddy who helped me eat them." He grinned, causing the little drake's eyes to shine, as he nodded. They settled back into their seats, enjoying their treats.

The blonde felt a little lighter that day.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Cleaning up Spike's face after they were done, at the water fountain the two continued. Spike for his part wanted to go play on the swings, and Naruto was willing to indulge him.

It was as they were walking the path, that Naruto found himself watching as Spike ran off in some random direction with a yell of "Twilight!", causing the buggy teen to look up to find the onesie wearing Spike, hugging a surprised, lavender sundress clad form of Twilight.

The nine-year old unicorn was surprised to find her little brother hugging her at the moment, before she looked up to see an incoming Naruto.

The composite eyed teen let out a small wave, as Spike began to babble on to Twilight about his day.

"Then we got ice cream! Now we're gonna go and play on the swings!" the drake finished, Twilight's eyes going wide, as she turned to the blonde.

"You went shopping with _mom_?" The tone she had when she said who he went shopping with, made it all clear.

He had survived. He was triumphant!

He basked in the fake glory.

"Heheheh, kind of, yeah. Your mom is crazy picky," he commented running a finger under his nose, as Celestia's protege nodded. She knew just how eager her mother could be, when it came to some things. Much less clothes.

"Naruto changed into mom! Then made all these copies, and we got through it in no time!" Turning to Naruto to ask what Spike meant, but instead found another her. She stared at the copy as Spike ran over to her double.

"See! See!" he said, as he jumped around the other her. She tried and rationalize how this could be possible. As far as she knew, there were no spells for such a thing. Maybe Naruto was a high powered unicorn?! OR a Bicorn! She'd never seen one! Wait, did Bicorns even exist?! He did have two horns, or possibly...

She would have continued this train of thought, were it not for feeling someone tapping her on the head, bringing her out of her reverie. She looked up at the normal form of Naruto, as he smiled at her.

"You doing okay there Twilight? You looked like you saw your doppleganger," he smirked, as Spike giggled.

"Y-you're impossible! There's no known pony, not even the princess, that can do that! The very statistical chance of anypony being able to change like that is impossible! I've never seen anything like that in the princess's library!" She nearly knocked him over with her exclamations, before he put a hand to her head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there Twilight! Deep, even breaths.. _Breath._ " The eldest's, of the three, words caused her to take a moment to stop, and do as he said.

Several deep breaths later, she let out one more expulsion of air, before looking down at the floor. Her cheeks burning a fierce red, as she hid her face behind her large backpack. Eyes peeking over the edge, she apologized.

"I'm so, so, so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! It's just...I've never read a book about you before. I've read about Griffins, minotaurs, donkeys, mules, zebras, the saddlian ponies…" she began to ramble again, causing the blonde to pat her once more on the head causing her to squeak and cover face with her bag again.

"Twilight, Twilight. I get it. You've never seen something like me before, you don't need to go all textbook on me. I have a hard enough time getting textbooks as is." She felt like her face was going to burn off, but she took one more deep breath, allowing her enflamed face to cool slightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm just surprised that we've never heard of your kind before." He simply nodded at her, before adding.

"Well, it's not like I know what I am either. For the most part I'm still finding out about all _this_ ," he gestured towards himself, " myself."

Twilight looked to the blonde in thought, before she smiled a big smile.

"We can document you! I mean, if we put this all down on paper, we could have the first account of your kind in Equestria! We might get our names added to the library's authors list!" Her eyes shined in the shape of her Cutie Mark, nearly blinding Naruto himself.

Well at least she wasn't embarrassed anymore.

 _ **~TCL~**_

There was much to be said about Twilight Sparkle. She was young, but smart. She endeavored to live up to the title of "Celestia's student", she had a distinct taste for pistacchio ice cream, and was an avid reader. Also she was kind of awkward in social situations, join the club, and she was a great writer for her age.

Naruto however, could say with the utmost confidence that Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student, and little sister to Shining while older to Spike, was one more thing.

She really, _really_ , tanked hard when it came to anything artistic.

She could make all the funny looking schemas, equations and formulas she wanted. She just plain sucked at drawing.

Not that Naruto was that much better, but he was not one for documenting pictures hand-drawn anyway.

"..."

"..."

"...Moose?" And Spike's words were definitely more on track with what the blonde was thinking, sending a currently face-booking Twilight, even further into her hard covered book..

"It looks kind of like a deer?" His own input seemed to just make the impression of her face into hard leather that much more distinct.

"Mmmmmmm…" Her groans caused him to laugh nervously, as he scratched the side of his forehead. Spike chose to instead pick up a pencil, and began scribbling on a piece of paper. Naruto for his part, tried to get Twilight's face out of her book. In the more literal sense of the word.

"Come on, Twilight. Twi~ Come on, it's not that bad." She removed her face from the hardcover to give him an annoyed look.

"Not that bad, _not that bad!_ I drew you as a _MOOSE_! Arghh!" Book held a face once more, and he just sweatdropped.

Well, at least she wasn't denying it.

"Authors!" He found something shoved into his face, from a pleased looking Spike. With the paper so close up, the blonde could barely see the colors on it. Something black and yellow, but he wasn't sure.

"Uh Spike? Little buddy? I can't really see." His words granted his vision back, only for Spike to repeat his words.

"Authors?" he said, but it sounded more like a question. Looking over at the drake, he saw what he was showing him and chuckled.

"...Twilight? You might want to look at this," he said, without moving his head away from the sight.

Twilight, who deigned it inappropriate to cover one's face with a book undeserving of it, regardless of how much she still wanted too, looked over at Naruto wondering what he was talking about.

She caught sight of the paper in Spike's hand, and stared for a moment.

On the sheet of wood product was a picture. A picture of a black and yellow looking figure in what seemed like clothes. Mind you, she understood that it was Naruto, obviously from the tail, but what she found out about it was.

It still looked better than her own.

Her eye twitched.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He made sure that Spike was set in the clones lap, before the blonde set himself up in his own. Twilight choosing to sit in the middle of the two on the last swing, as she held a notebook in hand. On the cover was the picture that Spike drew, much to her indignance.

Set himself up for a good rhythm, he started off. Luckily there weren't that many ponies nearby, if any. Those that were here began to empty out for the moment.

"So ask away Twilight," he said, as he leisurely moved back and forth, legs kicking every so often. The young unicorn smiled, before looking down at her notebook.

"For reference, how tall are you?" And the questioning continued like that. Each time she asked a question, he gave an answer that would be described to the best of his ability.

What food he ate, how he transformed, his lack of flying capability (he was sad about this one), his two horns (was he capable of magic? She wanted to test this when they could), and other such things.

One of the questions she asked though, did have him wondering.

"You have the ability to transform, but what is the biggest thing you've changed into?" He and his clone actually stopped at that, causing Spike to whine.

The clone kept swinging leaving things up to the original.

The blonde bug couldn't really say he had tried transforming into anything that wasn't a pony, human, or bipedal. If he wanted to be truly technical, he'd transformed with **Henge** into the Kyuubi before, but that involved Gamabunta.

Holy shit!

The blonde stopped with a look of shock on his face, before he scrambled off his swing seat. Standing up, and moving away from Twilight, who looked at him in confusion.

"Naruto? What happened?" she inquired bemusedly, as he scratched the back of his head before grinning.

"You just reminded me of something! I just hope this works." He said, before bringing the soft underside of his thumb to his mouth.

Making the incision with his canine, NOT his bigger fangs due to habit, and ran through a set of handsigns before bringing them down on the ground.

" **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!** " he spoke the jutsu name, before being enveloped by a decently sized smoke cloud.

" **What the...Who summoned me? The last time I remember being summoned…"** A slightly deep voice echoed out from the cloud, before it cleared, leaving all those in attendance dropping their jaw. The clone stopped swinging with Spike, as he stared at who was left in the smoke.

Luckily Spike found himself preoccupied by the sight of the…

"Giant Frog!" He grinned.

" **Huh? What the…? Is that a horse? That a talking lizard?"** Gamakichi asked, as another figure walked in front of him, before grinning.

"Gamakichi! Man am I glad to see you!" The giant toad blinked for a moment, before turning to the bug teen standing in front of him. His horizontal pupils seemed to focus in on him for a moment, before trailing up to the mop of blonde on top of his head and gasping.

" **NARUTO?!"** The blonde himself grinned, as if Christmas had come early. It was but a moment before the two bumped fist, the blonde laughing all the while.

Twilight at that point dropped her pen, notepad….and her jaw. The clone next to her saw fit to close the last one, lest she catch flies.

The toad looked at the blonde's new form.

" **Naruto! Where have you been?! Ma and Pa have been worried sick! Much more so, everyone else is wondering where you went."** The blonde scratched the back of his head for a moment, before he looked up at his first ever true toad summon.

"It's been a long story...A _really long_ story. I just need you to reverse summon me to Mt. Myobokuzon," he stated, only to find the toad wearing a frowning expression. His face only morphed to match the expression on his long time friend's.

"'Kichi?" The blonde's inquiring tone caused the toad to sigh.

" **Naruto, you may not realize it, but we've been trying to reverse summon you for a while now. As in, ever since you haven't returned back, the moment Pein revived all the lost lives,"** his words caused the blonde to stiffen, before his expression fell.

"So you mean?" Gamakichi nodded his head solemnly.

" **Trying to get you back has been fruitless, and not from lack of trying."** Naruto kind of slumped over, as he listened to the news, before he sighed. He ruffled his hair, as he looked down at his feet.

"Damn. I kind of had a feeling, but I was still the smallest bit hopeful, ya know?" The summon nodded his head, yet before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by dual shouts.

"Wait Naruto, what is this?!/Trixie demands to know how to summon giant toads!" The duo of toad and bug only stared for a moment, before turning to find Twilight had gotten up, and there was another small blue unicorn filly by the swingset.

...

"Crap."

 _ **~TCL~**_

The little azure unicorn, Trixie, was not swayed. Naruto could only hold his head in his hands, as Gamakichi laughed in the background.

"Trixie demands to know the spell to summon giant creatures. She must be able to summon creatures to set upon her enemies!" Twilight merely looked at Trixie in confusion, before the azure filly turned to her.

"And you!" She pointed her finger dramatically, causing Twilight to flinch before pointing a finger at herself.

"M-me?"

"Yes, you! You're Twilight Sparkle! You became Celestia's student when you just entered the school. Once Trixie beats you, she will be called the greatest of all the students!" The lavender colored filly, merely rubbed her hands against one another.

"D-do we have to?" Trixie's gaze turned determined.

"Yes! Trixie must beat you to gain access to the summoning beast spell!" That caught Naruto's attention.

"Wait what?" Trixie merely turned to him with a satisfied expression.

"Obviously, you are Sparkle's master, outside of Celestia! You were planning on teaching her your spell, but Trixie found you! She will win the right to summon a majestic creature!" Naruto merely looked on, still confused, before hearing her last words.

He cracked a smirk, before pointing back at Gamakichi.

"Him?" He was about to snort, but the hard slap to the back of the head from 'Kichi had him steadying himself. The toad merely grinned.

" **At least she has good taste."**

Naruto merely grumbled before he thought about this situation, and grinned an impish grin.

"So you wish to fight my pupil, Twilight Sparkle, do you? You wish to gain the ability to summon the, uh, oh, Mighty and Majestic toads of Mt. Myobokozon?" he said in a larger than life voice, causing both fillies to turn to him, before Trixie nodded eagerly.

"Than you must pass my three challenges!" This was all for the sake of hamming it up.

He was doing this for two reasons.

One, to create some entertainment for himself.

Two, to get Twilight some friends, Kami above knew she needed one. A rival was always a good place to start.

Hopefully she didn't follow his example in rivals though.

"What no!/Trixie accepts!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

"I can't believe you did that. _*yawn*_ That was tiring," Twilight commented from his back, as Spike was well asleep on his clone's back as they walked home.

"Hey in the end you had fun. Besides, you need to make friends. In the end it seemed more like she was Spike's friend then yours," he commented. They had dropped off the azure colored eight-year old at some elder looking pony. Though they did nearly give him a heart attack.

Gamakichi was quickly sent home afterwards, with a promise from Naruto to summon Ma and Pa later.

He felt Twilight thump him once on his back, weak as the blow was, even for a child.

"That's only because she showed him some of her magic tricks," she grumbled into his back.

"You mean the ones you couldn't do?" He heard her grumble some more.

"I could have done it...If i had some time." He merely smiled.

"Hey, it's not like you didn't show some of your own stuff as well. While you both have some good tricks, you still beat her with that small time teleportation spell. So you guys are about even. Maybe you can trade spells sometime," he stated to a quickly becoming drowsy Twilight.

" _*Yawn*_ I don't...think..so. ZZZZzzzzzzzz." He listened as she finally fell asleep, before shaking his head.

It wasn't like she didn't have fun though. He remembered seeing the smile on her face as she went against Trixie. The blue unicorn filly herself probably didn't notice it either. If they ever just got together to talk, they'd probably be the best of friends.

"Sasuke…" He looked skyward at the setting sun. His mind going back to his once upon a time friend, wondering what the Uchiha must be doing at this point.

"I wonder if you ever did get your wish, and if you'll just come back to Konoha afterwards," he muttered, as he continued on. Him and his clone, carrying a pair of sleeping children.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Getting to the Light/Velvet household, Naruto was quickly ushered inside by Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Taking their children from the blonde's care.

"Thanks Naruto, it's good to know that they're home. Safe, and sound," Night Light said, as he cradled his daughter in his arms. Dressed for bedtime, he was in his Yellow pajamas, while Velvet was clad in a bathrobe holding Spike.

"No problem Mr. Light. It was good to hang around with the both of them today. It's only right that I make sure they come home, without worry," Naruto said quietly, causing the two to smile. Before he was about to go to the couch, Velvet spoke up.

"Oh, there's some food left on the table. Spike and Twilight won't be able to have theirs, but you can share some out for yourself," she said, before leading off to Spike's shared room with Twilight, Night Light right behind her.

Nodding his head before she left, he made his way to the kitchen, turning the lights on. He spotted the pot of food and looked in to find some spaghetti with parmesan.

"I'm seriously starting to like this stuff. It ain't no ramen, but it's definitely a close second," he said, as he shared himself out some, before taking a seat at the table.

Swirling the fork in his hand, before bringing the food to his mouth, he chewed and enjoyed the cheesy flavor.

"A mother's cooking, huh?" He took another bite, "I guess I've been missing out on this."

He finished off the night with a full stomach, and a small smile.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **A Week Later…**_

"Come on boys, another set and you're done!"

"Can...you...keep up...Naruto?!"

"Please...Remember...I'm...leading...by….20!"

The scene of the backyard of the Light/Velvet household was a sight full of sweat, slight or otherwise, cheering from Spike, and viewing from the wife of the household.

Night Light held the watch as time ticked by. His normal combo of dress pants, shirt and vest changed. In place was a visor and no vest, as he finally clicked down on the stopwatch.

"Time!" he called out, causing both of the boys to stop. One falling back from sit-up position, sweating profusely. The other was sweating only slightly, all the while checking the weighted bands around his forearms, shins, chest, head, neck and biceps.

Naruto finished his inspection of the weighted equipment before sitting up next to the gasping Shining. The unicorn officer gave him a look of disbelief.

"What kind of pony are you?!" he wheezed out, as the blonde smirked

"The kind that still did 30 more sit-ups than you, with _weighted clothes._ Also, not a pony." The bug teen grinned impishly, as Shining let his head fall. Night Light moved over to them with Spike at his side, the small drake carrying a set of towels.

"Good job boys! Shining, you got 59 sit-ups in under a minute, a new record for you. Naruto though, beat you out by 31, a total of 90 sit-ups," Shining's dad commented, causing the white unicorn to groan, as Naruto got both towels, tossing one at Shining's head. The white unicorn allowed the, cooler than him, cloth to stay there as Naruto gave Spike a little hi-5.

"Shining, remember you promised to pick up Twilight today! I heard Cadence would be there~" Shining's mother sang.

All those in the yard never saw a unicorn recover so fast, as the junior officer seemed to kip up, and dash off inside to take a shower, all in one moment.

The rest simply laughed, as Shining's yelp reached their ears.

"Ah! The water! It's cold!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto looked over at Shining as the two walked down the park path. The buggy one wearing a large dark blue shirt with a yellow circle on the front and back that said, "Here comes the awesome!". Wearing a pair of tan shorts with dark brown bars going down halfway of the pants legs.

"Geez man, cool it! You act like you've never seen Cadence before. Also, nice comb over," the blonde said mockingly, as Shining finicked with his hair once more, before sending the blonde non-equine a sour look.

Wearing a clean, pressed, white long sleeve dress shirt, and dark dress pants, Shining continued to mess around with his hair. Reaching into his breast pocket of his brown, light jacket, he pulled out a half-eaten pack of mints, tossing one back.

Naruto simply shook his head, before snatching the mint package from Shining and taking one for himself.

"Naruto! What are you, doing?! I need those!" Shining said as he snatched back the package.

Naruto sent him a flat look.

"It was ONE mint." Shining was not moved.

"Yeah, MY one mint. I only have so many left." Naruto deadpanned.

"Shining you bought that TODAY! HALF AN HOUR AGO. You finished HALF of them already!" The unicorn looked appalled.

"What if I need to freshen up!" Naruto rose an eyebrow at him.

"Please, if there's anything Cadence will be suffering from this evening, it'll be your minty fresh breath." The blonde shot out, only to find the unicorn was now gargling water from a fountain, causing him to facepalm.

"Dude! Calm down! You're blowing this _way_ outta proportions." Shining couldn't help but snort.

"What do you know about love, Naruto?! You wouldn't be saying this if you were the one with a cru-affection for somepony!" His piece said, he went back to gargling. The bug merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Newsflash, I've had crushes before. Well, one, but that's beside the point. I wasn't this bad." Then again, he never did get Sakura to date him. The few times they went out to eat together, it always seemed to involve someone coming in about a quarter of the way, or they were in a group to begin with.

He definitely, wouldn't be stressing it like Shiny was, though. He totally wasn't slightly envious that _Shining's_ pink haired/furred crush actually gave him the time of day. He did not have issues.

Totally.

Once the unicorn male was done gargling, they continued onward. Roaming through parkways, in search of a certain little unicorn foal, and her foalsitter.

Coming up on a small hill, the duo found themselves looking from their vantage point, before Shining's gaze stopped in one direction and he started breathing a slight bit faster.

Taking notice of Shining's escalating condition, he rolled his eyes already knowing what caused it, before looking in the direction Shining was looking. Finding the obvious cause for his friend's now inept ability to keep his cool.

That "cause" was currently sitting with the pair of Twilight and Trixie, who seemed to be arguing over something.

With hair that was pink, purple, slight red and yellow, and clear purple eyes sat an alicorn. Either a winged unicorn, or a pegasus with a horn, he'd given up trying to guess which. With a short sleeved, blouse of a more tie-dye nature of colors that matched her hair. Pants that were a dark pink, and with her hair in a ponytail, princess to love and all things romantic, Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, cut quite the casual figure.

Too bad, Shining didn't notice this. So smitten was he, that when Cadence waved he locked up. Naruto waved, and moved one arm behind Shining to wave for him.

Ahh, the responsibilities of a wingman, or wingpony, in this case.

Truly, the responsibility of being a Bro.

Walking on down, or in Shining's case, shuffling every five inches, they duo met up with the trio of females of two foals and one teenager. Walking over Naruto tossed a hey in Cadence direction.

"Heya Cady, what's going on?" The blonde decided that Shining would come to eventually.

He usually did.

"Naruto!" She gave him a hug, to which he returned. Cadence did have something that could make Shining weak in the knees. Oh he knew Shining wasn't shallow, he'd been chasing after her since apparently middle school, but Naruto could admit that Cadence was well, and curvy.

She was nice, and seemed to want to bring ponies together through the power of love, which was all good and dandy, but…

He could feel the hug, turn into a harsh grip around his torso, and he refused to look down.

"Naruto~" That sing-song voice of hers did little to make him _want_ to look down, but a light pink aura surrounded him, and he had little choice but too.

 _That_ smile was on her face again.

Ever since Shining had, stumblingly, introduced the two of them, they got along fine. For the most part, while a little hesitant at first, Cadence was a nice mare who could look past appearance, and see the person, or pony, within.

Sadly, she had this little tick of wanting everybody to find love, and being her friend made him the target of her more aggressive tactics. He honestly hoped she outgrew it, because it made some of these meetings into interrogations given enough time, and enough attention on himself.

"So~ Naruto….Found any pony you fancy yet? I know I saw this interesting looking mare who worked at the astronomy wing. Moonbeam I think was her name. She has a little sister in the same school as Twilight, and I heard she's single~" Oh geez, that poor mare in Cadence's sights.

Unfortunately for that poor mare, Cadence was quite persistent, if she had you in her sights for too long.

"No Cadence, I haven't. Please, can we just drop this? Pretty please, with those micro-teddy bear marshmallows you like on top? I mean, just look over there, a perfectly good Shining Armor!" He passed the buck, as he really didn't want to deal with this at the moment.

She gave him that look that said "This isn't over," before slipping on over to, a just coming to, Shining. Seeing her coming though, was quick to send the stallion into another fit, before she latched onto him with a hug and cry of "Shiny!".

The blonde had never seen someone go so red since Hinata.

 _Because I love you Naruto_

He held a hand to his head and sighed, as the memory came to him. He'd really messed up before coming here.

Walking over to the now staring forms of Twilight and Trixie, Naruto crouched down and grinned at them.

"Ma-Naruto!/Master!" The twin cries, with one being quick to amend herself, of the fillies caused him to snicker. Twilight let out a groan, as Trixie turned her gaze her way with a sneer.

"He will not be your master for long Sparkle, don't try and trick Trixie!" The lavennder one simply let her face fall into the book she was holding, as Naruto simply sat there amused.

"Aha, so you're finally acknowledge me, young Twilight! Trixie has been a good influence on you! Tis a good day, to find such young and applicable students," he stated with that oh so impish grin Twilight was coming to hate, all the while Trixie merely puffed out her chest in pride.

"As Trixie would expect!" She thumped her chest once, ruffling the denim dress. She was currently wearing a set of black shorts, and to finish off in her hair was a small metal clip of a wand.

"I keep telling you, that he's NOT my master! Besides that's not important," Twilight started, causing Naruto to mockingly grab his chest.

"Ah! The pain of being crushed by my own student's words. Is this the feeling of a wayward student gone rogue?" Trixie, ever the gullible one for these kind of dramatics, was quick to "console" the blonde.

"Worry not, master! Trixie shall never abandon your ways, that you haven't taught Trixie yet." Twilight sent her an annoyed look.

"Stop doing that! He's faking it, besides we have to get this spell done before class tomorrow! Were it not for a certain _blue_ pony, I'd be done already!" Trixie turned back to her "rival".

"It's sad that Trixie is a better student than the student of the princess! Trixie already said that she can get some strings set up to make it…" And the two devolved into an argument, leaving the blonde bug teen too simply look at them with a small smile.

Ah to have a rival. Different ways of seeing things. Two perspectives, and personalities.

While they fought, the blonde felt the presence of Shining and Cadence come up behind him, causing him to look back at them. Seeing the stiff form of Shining holding on to the giggling Cadence, the blonde silently nodded to them, shooing them off.

Turning back away from the sight of the leaving couple, he found himself looking at the forgotten book sitting between the two standing children. Figuring that nothing was wrong with taking a look at the book, he picked it up and looked over the page.

'The minor transmogrification spell?' He wasn't sure what it meant, but looking over the lettering the blonde took a guess.

It was like a small transformation on an object. A **Henge** that affected small objects, but completely. Not a hardened illusion, but an honest to goodness change from one object to another.

Reading the instructions, he idly wondered.

Did he have magic?

Sure the sight of spells happening didn't really bother him too much, but he never really bothered to think about trying and performing some spells of his own. Too caught up in trying to fit in with this place was he, that he didn't really think about it. Especially when he already had his chakra.

Then again, what about when he changed? Within out the use of chakra or jutsu, how did he change the way he did?

Setting the book down, he cupped his chin, tongue flicking out at lips in thought. The two foals stopped arguing for a moment, to stare at him.

"Master?/Naruto?" Hearing their calls, he shook his head, and turned his attention on the two of the curious looking girls.

"Ah? Oh, nothing girls, just wondering about this spell of yours." Hearing this Twilight eyes looked at him in confusion, while Trixie merely laughed.

"Of course! Trixie should have thought of this before! Master, please help us solve this spell!" She bowed to him, actually making him flush slightly. Konohamaru had been his student, true, but he'd never been so formal about it. Being called "Boss" was fun, but it was more of a brotherly-mentorship.

Twilight looked like she'd been forced to swallow a lemon.

"We can't do that! This is our homework, and we have to do it ourselves," Twilight said, with an annoyed frown. Trixie threw one right back at her.

"Trixie really shouldn't be so surprised Sparkle. She wonders if you even want to get this done with." Twilight's temple developed a vein.

Naruto seeing this, was quick to try and settle things before they got out of hand.

"Look Trixie, I'd love to help you guys, but Twilight is right," he said, causing the two to look to him in shock, before Twilight smiled.

"See, I was right!" she said with a little jig, while Trixie looked betrayed. He scratched the back of his head, before adding.

"Besides, I'm not sure if I could do any of these spell things anyway. Never had to before." This caused the both of them to look at him in shock. Well Twilight looked at him with another curious look, going from his face to his horns.

Trixie looked put out, arms slumping to her sides, before she adopted a thinking expression.

"Hmmm...Trixie gets it! Her master is so good, he doesn't realize he's using magic!" The two others in the vicinity gave her a look of disbelief, while Twilight did as well along with a twitching eyebrow.

"That doesn't make sense!" Twilight screeched. Trixie merely waved off her disbelief.

"Trixie has more important things to do Sparkle. Now Master, we must get you to learn magic!" The idea of Trixie brushing her off made Twilight's brain fizzle, and pop.

Naruto merely looked amuse, as he saw Trixie grab his hand and start pulling him in the direction of the school in the distance.

"Trixie will prove she's the best student, by bringing Master into the world of magic!" she said determined, as she dragged the blonde along.

"Hey get back here Trixie! That doesn't make sense!" Twilight shouted following after them. Naruto could have easily stopped Trixie and put an end to this, but his curiosity was peaked.

Could he do magic?

 _ **~TCL~**_

Finding themselves in a library, after passing a shocked looking librarian, they set themselves at a table.

The duo of Twilight and Trixie had zoomed off to grab a couple of books for him to "unleash his masterful potential", Trixie's words, not his. Twilight seemed to dislike the idea at first, and then she became enthused by the prospect of it.

A clearly magical being, who couldn't use _magic_? She'd take that challenge. Plus he was sure she wanted to fill out more of that book on guys like him some more.

So as he waited, he leaned back in his chair, eyes roaming the library. His optics taking in the architecture, and finding it weird.

Books filling out the walls didn't really do it for him. He wondered if there were any adventure stories in here.

 _*Gasp*_

Eyes falling back down from the walls, he came gaze-to-gaze with another small filly. Catching his composite eyes in those of her own dark violet ones.

Staring for what could only be a rude amount of seconds, the filly slowly brought a book she held up to hide the body half of her face, trembling slightly.

He stared for a completely different reason. She looked a lot like…

"Twilight?" He said out loud, causing the filly's ears to perk, as she stared at him in more curiosity, than discomfort.

"Naruto?" His gaze went off to his side, finding said lavender filly coming around the corner. Following after her was Trixie, and the both of them were carrying a few books each. The turned the corner, only to find the filly who had been staring at their Master/"master".

"Moondancer?" Twilight asked, as she set her books down, and approached the now awe inspired filly.

Coming over to his side, Trixie set down her three books, and gave the pair of Twilight and Moondancer a sour look.

"Hey Trixie, who's the new girl? And what's her deal with Twilight?" The azure unicorn simply crossed her arms.

"Hmph! That would be Moondancer, and she seems to be inspired by Sparkle. Trixie would wonder what her deal is, but Trixie is sure that even Master can see where the weirdness really starts." And she wouldn't be wrong, Naruto could see _exactly_ what she was talking about. This was the Moondancer Cady had been talking about when she mentioned her sister.

Moondancer looked almost completely like Twilight and it was freaking him out. Were it not for the long brown skirt, different colors and tan long sleeve top, he'd be well into the idea that Twilight had learned the **Kage Bunshin no jutsu**! Thankfully, another distinction were those eyebrows of hers.

They were at least not bushy brow sized, and he was sure she wouldn't let them get that far, even as she grew. They gave her a sort of focused look, definitely made her stares seem more intense.

Seeing the two hold a small conversation, Trixie broke open a book, before shoving it in his face.

"Now Trixie knows that Master is great, but the only high-level spell she could find in the library was about the Teleportation since that's all there is, we'll start with this-"

"Trixie! We agreed to start with levitation!" And there was Twilight to the rescue, because the blonde wasn't sure what Trixie expected of him.

"Pfft, Trixie only said that so she could get you off her back, now Master we must get you working on this spell, so we can move away from Sparkle at the smallest chance!" Announcing her plan out loud probably wasn't a smart idea, Naruto was sure.

"" _That's_ why you wanted the spell?!" The lavender unicorn filly exclaimed, before the two of them descended into another argument.

Looking this over as the usual, he was surprised to find that he was one of two watching the duo. Turning to see Moondancer watching them as well, she caught him looking at her, and she did her best to look as small as possible.

He simply smiled at her, and made a "come hither" motion.

She caught this, and trembled slightly. He could only give her the most welcoming smile he could, and slowly, but surely, she shuffled over. Taking a seat in the chair opposite him, she set her own book on the table and just looked down at it.

"So..?" His word startled her, but she looked up in uncertainty. Hands gripping the bottom of the seat slightly.

"U-um, how do you know Twilight? Um, sir?" she inquired. He simply grinned at her, causing her to retract slightly from his sharp teeth, before she moved slightly just to look at his fangs.

"Oh, well that's because I live with her family, and so I kind of help keep an eye out for her. Right now, we were trying to find out if I could do magic, but well…" He gestured to the two foals, who were doing their best to outshout one another, causing the little yellow filly to giggle slightly.

" _Shhhhh!_ " Came a shushing form the librarian, as she rounded the corner, causing the two girls to flinch before uttering their apologies. Turning her eyes to him and Moondancer's directions, her eyes widened as she saw her younger sister next to the bug teen.

Moondancer gave her sister a small wave, as the librarian stared at the leaning back blonde. She narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to raise an eyebrow, before she pointed to his foot. Said foot was listing dangerously close to the edge of the table from his leaned back position, and he quickly set himself back down.

He sheepishly chuckled, as she nodded her head and went back to the front, making sure to catch his sight one more time, before going back.

"Now if you two are done making the librarian angry," he spoke up, as the two hung their heads in shame. Twilight's was especially low.

He took up a book, and well, the first thing he came across was words upon words. His eyes screeched to a halt over the blocky text, and set the book down.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't going to be so easy.

Seeing his expression they asked what was wrong. Well Twilight did, since apparently this was one of the books she had picked.

"Well, it's all wordy. Like I feel myself getting sleepy just by looking at it." Twilight looked like someone had just killed her puppy.

"That's the theory behind the application of levitation series! That's one of the most basics of books we can start with!" She managed to scream quietly, only for Trixie to scoff.

"Leave it to Sparkle to drop nothing but words in your lap. Trixie's choices are obviously far better choices for Master's tastes." The blue unicorn of the group said, causing the blonde to pick up a book from the other stack of books.

Opening that one, he was frowning once more.

It was easier to understand, make no mistake. There were _pictures_ in this one, at the least, but the spells themselves. Looking at the title on the cover, he wasn't surprised about what he was going to find.

 _Gravity and You! The Unicorn's Realm of Spatial Magic_

He sighed once more, before putting the book down.

"Trixie, this stuff is too much. Some of these mid-level spells seem like they need me to know like a million other things before I can get to even half of it," he said, causing her to deflate. Neither of the three noticed that Moondancer had gone off, and was coming back with a small book held to her chest.

Two deflated fillies, and he wasn't sure if this was a good idea anymore. Right as he was about to suggest that they leave, he felt a couple of taps against his shoulder.

Turning, he found Moondancer offering him a book with a small smile. Taking the book from her, he read over the title.

 _Baby Steps to Magic! Your Unicorn Filly and You_

Looking back to the book, he opened it up and skimmed the text, before he smiled. Yeah, this would do it. Unconsciously setting a hand down on Moondancer's head, causing her to squeak, and catching the attention of the others.

Seeing a smiling Naruto holding up a book, and a flushing Twilight doppleganger.

"I think, this is what we might have been looking for," he said, confidently.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They had watched the blonde read over the first few pages, before he tried to put into application that he read.

From what he understood, unicorns channeled it through their horns, and melded their internal magic with the one that existed outside their bodies. It allowed them to alter reality as they did, because they were like literal "buttons" to a reality "computer".

Alicorns were like having a higher level ninja having access to the jutsu parts of a ninja library.

What he was currently doing was trying to find that magic in himself, and bring it out. This would create an "aura" representing his magic coming out.

Focusing on that train of thought, he closed his eyes and tried to search for that inner well of magic energy.

Feeling the grass underneath his crossed legs, and the tree at his back, he was definitely pleased with the decision to move the session outside.

The kids were over on a blanket that the blonde saw Twilight get from one of guards. He made sure to salute them on their way out, and here they were. They were going over that spell from before, while he did his thing.

Focusing back on himself again, he allowed his mind to travel his body as he seeked and searched for that magic well. The book had stated that magic should be unique to its user, at least ones with Cutie Marks. Once the magical tattoo had been attained, the feeling changed, but by that point most had a good grasp of it already.

The blonde was hoping that the feeling of magic would remain as that of a mental spark, as the girls had been talking about.

Sitting and focusing, he traced the chakra paths in his body. The streams flowing through the tenketsu, and Gates, was a familiar notion to him. He couldn't help but focus on each singular stream and follow its "path," before he found one that crossed "over" something weird. Following this trend were several other "streams," and by that point he might have found that magic of his.

Touching his mind to it, the moment he "touched" it, he was met with a minor pull.

His horns began to glow a slight yellow as he pulled more and more on that pool.

Opening his eyes, he could catch sight of the slight illumination on his head. The glow stayed for a moment, and he wasn't surprised to see it fade after he lost the connection.

"Okay, so I do have it," he said to himself, as he saw the kids each slowly levitating a small flower in front of themselves.

Slowly, the flowers were changing themselves in shape. The glows of each of their auras covering the flowers, before in a blip, they each changed them.

As he sat there enjoying the breeze, he heard the sound of something, or more somepony, coming up behind him.

Each of the girls were too involved in their own work to notice as a tall, white pony entered the garden area of the school.

Taller than even he by a foot, large wings bigger than any pegasus he'd known/seen up to this point, and a horn longer than any unicorn's.

An Alicorn. Not just any either, not that there were many to begin with, but Princess Celestia herself. The long flowing white toga dress she wore had slight gold colored accents, her forearms adorned in long fingerless glove sleeves. Around her neck she held a necklace with a purple jewel encrusted on the largest portion, and on her hooves were golden hoof casings. Flowing tail and hair, of soft teal, purple, green and pink colors. There were two sun symbols on the hips of her dress, and he could see one on her hip of the slit of the dress, allowing the leg to be seen.

Last was the signs of her rule, both her crown, and the sceptre she held in her hands.

Coming to stand just in the shade of his tree, she stared out at the fillies with an impassive gaze. Her hair flowing in that non-existent wind of hers, that never let up.

He acknowledged her existence with a nod of his head, as he joined her in their watching of the fillies finally becoming aware of the world around them.

He could remember when he'd first met the princess. It was almost amazing how different she was from the princesses he knew.

Especially so, when she was more a 'Kage, than any princess.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Month and a Half Ago…**_

 _The blonde knelt down next to Morse Code and Sail Wind, as the trio of him and the captains heard the guards around them stand in attention._

" _Presenting Her Majesty, Princess Celestia!" It was as the blonde heard that, that he could have sworn that his senses went haywire._

 _Becoming a sage had done tons for him as ninja. Besides that which he garnered from the toads, he'd also become far more attuned to the feeling of the energies around him._

 _So when the world around him felt like "heat" and the like...Well he could be forgiven for gasping slightly from his knelt position._

 _This power he felt, far engulfed everything he'd felt up to this point. It was far stronger than the large Scorpoleon from before, and was more comparable to something like...like…_

 _A Bijuu._

 _His eyes went wide, as he finally heard the sound of hooves on ceramic tiles._

 _Hearing a cushion slightly deflate, he and the captains allowed their heads to rise, and he gazed upon the sight of the most power creature he'd seen since coming here._

 _The winged unicorn that sat in the large throne, cut an imposing figure. Larger attributes than any of the races he'd seen up to this point, made her figure stand above all the rest as a singular being. A mix of three, who ruled them all._

 _Celestia let her gaze fall over those who knelt to her, as she traveled the steps. Her eyes roamed her court, the court that she'd held for over a thousand years. Her purple irises landing on the three kneeling ponies that were at the base of the throne's carpeting._

 _Setting herself up on her cushioned throne, she couldn't help but find the feeling from the center pony to feel, "different"._

 _It was strong. Truly strong. The energy she could feel was vibrant, lively and soothing all the same. A river that flowed silently, but with great strength._

 _Focusing in on the center pony of the three in front of her, she watched as they all rose to meet her gaze._

 _Her eyes slowly widened, as they met the visage of what was not a pony, but a race she was familiar with._

 _Changelings._

 _She didn't allow her countenance to fall, her expression staying neutral as she watched the proceedings._

 _She heard as they conversed with her advisor. The two captains doing most of the speaking, as the changeling merely looked up at her. The spiky mop of hair he held on his head frizzing at the tips, as he kept focus on her._

 _Her own mind coming to a halt as she realized just_ why _he did._

 _He could sense. He could feel that which most could not, and that meant many things._

 _If he were of ill-intent, none of which were good._

 _Many didn't understand, that as an alicorn, her magic grew in spades. From when she was first born to now. She learned, she ached, and she triumphed over many trials to become as powerful as she was._

 _For not just herself, not just her foolish pride in her youth, but for her family, for….Luna._

 _For her ponies, when she and Luna had become their rulers._

 _Yet, he could feel her. He could grasp how strong she was, not fully, but he had a clue._

 _And that was dangerous._

" _Princess Celestia?" Hearing the voice of the captain, 'Morse code, was it?' She turned her attention to him and his fellow officer._

" _Speak, Morse. Why have you come to my chambers? Why come with another of your own, and a...Changeling?" Her question she expected was to bring up many topics._

 _He might have been a deserter of a clan. One of the four hives she knew of. Perhaps he was a dignitary? Slim, almost zero, but possible._

 _She wasn't prepared for the first words to come out the changelings mouth._

" _That's what I am?" he spoke with a voice of uncertainty, that caused her eyes to widen slightly._

 _Young. Almost too young, but strong._

 _She paid more attention, as the_ teen's _small outburst got him cuffed one. The bug life form muttering small curses, as he rubbed the back of his head, before looking down at his hand._

 _She needed answers._

" _You see, Your Majesty…" And he spoke a story._

 _A story of a lost changeling, with no idea of where, or what he was. Of words of a different language, and even tales of strength that, were he not in front of her, she might be hard pressed to believe._

 _Once he was finished, all those in the courtroom stayed silent. The guards who stayed behind to watch the princess could only find the tale to be hocky. To believe that one such being, especially with how young he was was utterly-_

" _I believe you." And the guards and others nearly snapped their necks in accordance to her words._

 _Celestia could only look on with a small smile, as she stared down at the Royal Guard captains._

 _Turning her attention to the blonde male in the middle, she sent him a look._

" _Would all who are in the chambers please leave? I wish to have a talk with our changeling guest." Most those in the room at that moment were shocked, and rightly unwilling to leave their royalty in the hands of a...unknown._

 _She allowed her gaze to roam the room, encompassing all her ponies in her smile._

" _Please, do as I say. I'm well and fully capable of contacting you should anything happen. I only wish for you to trust me, as I trust your ability to protect me." Her words were like a caressing kindness._

" _Now please, leave." And so they did. She watched as her ponies left. Each one passing a glance at the lone changeling in the room, as they passed him._

 _Suspicion. Spite. Regret._

 _Naruto allowed them all to pass over him. They meant nothing to him. Just like before, just like the words of the villagers in the past._

 _Once the room's doors closed behind him, the two were all alone._

 _He simply stared at her, as that "heat" engulfed the room. The intensity of this feeling was not lost on him. He simply stood as he was, not caving in the slightest._

 _He would not cower from her. Whether he stayed, or went after this, he would not be cowed by anybody._

 _Naruto Uzumaki did not get intimidated by anyone._

 _She merely let her gaze fall on him, as she allowed her magic to flow outward. Not exerting it on him, but allowing her tightly knit control to loosen her hold on it._

 _She merely watched his reaction, and bar some more frizzing of his hair, he wasn't moved._

 _She allowed her internal energy to flow outward some more, before reigning it back in. She simply let out a small sigh, before coming down the steps of her throne._

 _Naruto decidedly missed the warmth as she pulled back her influence over the area. It felt kind of chilly now._

 _Once she stood in front of him, she simply stared him in the eyes, before speaking._

" _They speak highly of you. Tales of your strength is something I heard on the way here when I passed the junior officers, but seeing you here in the flesh I'm assured that those tales are true. Yet, I wish to know," he tilted his head at her, "what do you truly think?"_

" _What do I truly think?" She nodded at him, her mouth staying a thin line._

" _I can not say that I've ever been in the presence of another like yourself, and not been uncomfortable." Sombra, Discord, Tirek, Grogar._

"" _Another like me?"" He asked, and she nodded._

" _Ones who are strong. Those that could be items of legends." She said._

" _Ones who are within my realm of power." His eyes widened, as she waved her hand at his form._

" _Tell me, do you feel it? Do you feel the strength I possess?"_

 _He stood tall, but closed his eyes, and nodded. She closed her own eyes, and simply stayed silent._

" _You asked me what I truly think, and I think that you don't trust me, and you're completely right to do so." She stayed silent._

" _You've heard my story, so yeah, I don't have much more to add onto that. It's all in your hands whether you trust me, or not." he said simply._

 _Several moments passed, before she opened her eyes. Expression still tightlipped, she asked her last question._

" _What is it you seek here?"_

 _He chuckled._

" _I'm honestly not sure. I guess...I guess, I just want to find my place again." he responded._

 _She took a slightly deep breath, before releasing it all the same. She blinked once, before bowing to him slightly._

" _I would like to thank you. For protecting my little ponies. There are many that would be lost without them, and I'd feel no small amount of grief should they never return home. So on behalf of Canterlot, and all those in Equestria, I thank you." she finished with a smile, as he blushed, a light teal coming to both his cheeks._

" _Ehehehe, no problem. Those who abandon the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. That's something my older teacher once taught me, and I carry that with me to this day, and onward." She smiled at this._

" _Your teacher sounds like a wise one." He smiled at her._

" _Not really, he's just a massive weirdo."_

 _She tilted her head, before shaking it in amusement._

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Present…**_

She smiled as the fillies finally took notice of her. Their eyes widening in surprise, the floating rocks they now held shooting off in random directions.

" _My cabbages!"_

"Hello my little ponies. How are you this sunny day?" she asked cordially, even as the girls ran over and bowed to her.

"Princess!/Your Majesty!/Princess Celestia!" Their calls were apologetic. As if the princess would take some offense that they were too busy to notice her.

The ponies really loved the princess, Naruto couldn't help but observe.

Seeing them all converse, he went back to reaching for that magic of his again. He found that well, "touched" it, and had the mental spark. Light tugs later, and his horns were glowing.

He looked up at the two extra extensions on his head, and couldn't help but notice.

Did they get longer, or was that him?

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he thought about this magical energy now coursing through him.

It felt light, airy, and thin, but it had a sort of "connectedness" that he couldn't really put a word to.

So as he was thinking about this, he allowed it to start to move throughout his body. The energy circulating to each of his limbs, as he allowed it to. He assumed his meditative stance, and went stock-still.

* * *

Twilight could only stare at her brother's blonde friend, as began to be encompassed by the magical energy.

She wasn't the only one either, as Trixie and Moondancer were paying attention as well. Seeing the blonde's unmoving form become engulfed by his own magical aura was almost hypnotic. The yellow glow surrounding him was in an almost flaming spherical shape, as the energy moved. For someone not use to magic, he was adapting to it pretty well. Maybe she could write this down in the book!

Celestia merely looked on, as her mind followed the blonde's magical output. She couldn't help but notice that the energy he was currently outputting was unlike what she felt from him before.

She could feel this magical energy, and it wasn't close to how she expected the blonde to be. At the same time, she could also still feel that powerful presence within him. This magical energy was possible to become more than it was, but it wasn't what made him-!

A new development came to her eyes, as the yellow energy began to be intersected by vibrant blue. The energies swirling around one another in that sphere shape, before the orb got larger. The sphere passing over the tree, and coming to pass over them all.

Peace, tranquility and determination.

The feeling that washed over her was soothing. As if the world itself began to welcome her more into its grasp than she normally could. Eyes roaming down to the children she was not surprised to find them all basking in this glow.

They opened their eyes, and she withheld a gasp as they're eyes glowed the colors of their own auras.

Wind, illusion, capacity, gravitation.

She looked up, and only then noticed her own horn had begun to glow, involuntarily. Her mind being open to the flowing magics, and energies that surrounded them.

It was a connectedness she was just barely familiar with.

Her eyes went back to the changeling, and she noticed that yellow lines began to flow up the side of his face. As they encroached, she felt this aura grow stronger, more intense. Yet, it wasn't suffocating.

Right as the lines were about to finish, he stopped, and the feeling left the area, dying as the aura faded itself.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but to lose himself in those comforting energies. His idea of seeing how well his chakra would mix with the magic went far better than he was expecting.

Feeling all those things, as he did, was overwhelming. Then he noticed that unconsciously he was pulling in the natural energies as well, and he cut it short because he wasn't sure what could possibly happen should that come into the mix.

His "hair" had finally rested back from its floating state, before he opened his eyes. His mind coming back to the waking world, he took notice of the fact that there was no conversing coming from the side of him. Turning his eyes to the side, he found that the four females were looking at him with various expressions.

Celestia seemed slightly conflicted. Her hand had come to her horn, in narrow eyed confusion.

Moondancer seemed to let out a small whine, as she held her hands to her horn.

Trixie was grinning from ear to ear, as if she had just won the greatest deal in her life.

Twilight though, her eyes looked to him in wonder. As if he was a grand puzzle, or some ancient book, with the greatest of secrets within it.

After those few moments of silence, he soon found his face full of blue and lavender.

"Master that was amazing.../I've never seen that happen before.../ **How did you do that?!** " He was hit by the shouts of the duo of his filly "students", as they got far too close for his own taste. Pushing them back gently, he made sure to keep a hand on each of their heads, just in case.

"Calm down, I have no idea what you're even talking about," he said, which caused Twilight's eyes to widen, as did Trixie's grin.

"I knew Master was amazing! Trixie will be the greatest!" Her enthusiasm wasn't shared by Twilight, who simply looked at him with the most curious of expressions. He eyed them for a second, before he found Moondancer coming over to him with her hands scrunching up the hem of her upper article of clothing.

Celestia only watched on, as the other unicorn fully explained to the blonde what had transpired. All the while, she held her gaze onto him, and her mind was trying to sort out the one last thing she felt when he cut off contact.

 _A void. Something that was empty. Something that was once filled._

Her mind came back from the sliver of memory, taking in the scene of Twilight and co. trying to get the blonde to show them how he did what he did.

He indeed was more than she had been expecting.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Two Weeks Later…**_

He couldn't help but stare at himself in the mirror as he brought his hands up to the pair of horns at the top of his forehead.

He couldn't help but notice something off about the extensions to his cranium.

"Seriously, are these things getting bigger?" He asked himself, as he tapped the bony protrusions. They seemed to be at least an inch longer than they had been originally. Maybe half of what Shining's own horn size was if taken separately.

Looking at them for a little bit longer, he simply shrugged, before looking down to his exoskeleton-like body. Taking himself in, as he'd done so many times before, he looked at his upper portions in curiosity. His bottoms covered by the red shorts he currently wore.

He brought a hand down to his stomach, and focused a little chakra before finding the seal like tattoo was still in place. It kind of looked like chalk on his stomach. On each of his limbs were those weights from some time ago, when he was training with Shining for these trials.

Well it was more for Shining than Naruto. The blonde wore them just to try and even it out for the bluenette unicorn.

His body was another thing. It was kind of bulky, in the sense that he could feel the carapace was more broad around his form. The joints were kind of exposed out of the shell where knees and the like were. Last but not least he couldn't help but truly wonder how tough his exoskeleton was.

"I have to wonder what this is really still here for. The Kyuubi's not here anymore buddy, you can get away now," he muttered to the seal array, as if it could hear him. No response, but he wasn't surprised.

Sighing, he went back to putting on the red sweat jacket.

Just as he was zipping it up, that the door to the bathroom stalls opened up, by none other than Shining Armor.

Currently the unicorn junior officer was in a set of sweatpants and jacket just like the blonde himself, but his set was that of gold and purple.

"Naruto! Good to see you're ready! The trials are about to start. All you have to do is make a good impression, and you're in, though I'd be more surprised if you _didn't_ make it in," the eldest of three said, as he kept the door open to the blonde, as they walked out the bathroom/stall house.

Coming out to the view outside, he took in the field, as well as the other spaces of equipment going on in the center. On the sides of the fields, there were large crowds cheering on the recruits down below. Flags, and shouts were made to those in the field, both in purple and red.

The blonde could seem Shining's family, Trixie and that elder pony from before and Cadence. Said alicorn was currently waving at the duo of them, causing Shining to go bright red, as they waved back.

"This is the day you join me in the Royal Guard Naruto, look sharp!" he said with a easily reciprocated grin. The blonde was looking forward to this, as he and Shining walked towards the other sets of ponies in bright red wear.

Mid-way Shining went off to join another group bearing the same colors as he was, waving the blonde to his own group.

Quickly making his way to the other reds, he simply ignored the small berth they gave him, and focused on the pony giving out instructions.

"Attention all recruits! I welcome you to the much anticipated Recruit Day! Today you will be seeded into to find out whether you got the _STUFF_ , to be a Royal Guard!" Came the non-descript pony captain. Adorned in his own set of grey sweats, he focused on letting groups off into different directions.

In a group of his own, the blonde found them being lead onto the track field. Waiting for them was a familiar looking face of a pegasus captain.

Sail Wind saw the group he'd be leading in these try-outs, and couldn't help but to hide his grin, when he noticed the blonde changeling in their midst. He merely had a tightly held thin lipped expression as he went down his check board.

"Now for your first assessment, we're going to be doing some 2 mile runs. Remember that this isn't _a race_ , and it's to test your ability to keep up with the rest of the group. You pass once we have gotten to the finish line with all those involved," he said, as he set down his own board and held the whistle to his lips.

The group began to stretch for a bit as they got ready. Naruto for his own part was doing some leg stretches as he got ready. Finishing off with a hoof touch, he set himself up near the back of the group.

"Begin!" Sail blew the whistle and they were off.

The blonde couldn't help but to notice as he jogged that the group of other ponies were pulling ahead, bit by bit. Each of them seemingly trying to separate from the back of the group.

Every time he kept pace, he felt like they were pushing to go faster. Come the first loop around the track, they had gone from slight jogging to a decent run. Yet, the blonde paid it no mind, as he kept to the back of the group.

Sail was off to the side, watching as the ponies and one changeling made their second lap, and he couldn't help but frown. He already see some of them doing their best to separate from the bug blonde, a sort of group agreement. Yet he only smirked once more as the blonde kept up.

Come their third lap, they were failing to lose Naruto. Come the fourth, it had turned from a controlled run to a full out one, in which the blonde kept pace, just as easily as before. All the while the recruits, sans naruto, began to sweat at the exertion.

Naruto himself, could hear the crowds cheering for the recruits all around, but he focused more on the voices he cared about.

"You got this Naruto!" Spike.

"You can do it, pace yourself! Go BBBFF!" Twilight.

"Master beat the pants off those other lesser beings!" If that wasn't Trixie, he'd eat a brick.

"Keep time son! Naruto stay easy you're coming onto to the sixth lap." Night Light.

"Shiny, do your best! Naruto I want to both you boys smiling by the end of this!" Twilight Velvet.

Coming onto the sixth lap, Naruto decided that he'd do one for his wayward "Student", and pulled on ahead by going around the side of the group. Those who were originally ahead of him, began taking notice of the fact and tried their best to remain ahead.

Come 7th loop, he was the only one who wasn't sweating heavily. He barely had a sheen on though. Halfway into the eighth, he decided to drop all the pretenses, and gave them one word of advice.

Pulling ahead even more so, he smirked to the group at his side.

"Try not to be so obvious, 'kay? Bye!" And he pulled ahead in what could only be the largest lead.

By the time the ponies were at the 3/4s of the last lap, Naruto was just passing the finish line.

Hands on his hip, he let out a single breath, and gave Sail Wind a grin, which he returned with a smirk, before the captain took a check off on the list.

And so his day continued as such.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The rest of the exercises continued as such.

From weightlifting, to push-ups/sit-ups, chin ups and the like.

Then came the obstacle course. Seeing the hanging ropes, the climbing wall, the combat crawl and finally the monkey bars near the end, Naruto was sure for any normal pony this would seem rigorous.

Yet, he was no pony. Nor was he _normal_ by any definition of the word.

The group had been dissected by that point subtlely. Naruto couldn't help but notice that halfway through, he was always in the front of the groups at the start. Probably a scoring system of some kind.

They were on the third to last event of the day, the Obstacle course. Each of the recruits stared at the long path with obstruction. The numbers had thinned out, mostly those who couldn't keep up with the training regimen, or hurt themselves during. By this point there were at most fifty, but more likely 40 ponies, and changeling, left.

Naruto merely smiled at what looked like a fun time.

Those in the golds and purples had finished earlier. The junior officers coming over to enjoy the last three events of the coming recruits. Some had gone up to the bleachers for their families, such as Shining, who now sat next to Cadence.

All eyes on them.

The group could only look on as an aura fell over the obstacle course. It expanded the course in it's entirety, making it long enough to fit the whole lot of the rest of those doing it.

So lining up along with the rest of them, Naruto got into ready stance, before the whistle sounded.

He separated from the group at the first instance, coming up to the climbing wall. There were a set of ropes there meant to help those across tall piece of hardened equipment.

Grabbing onto one, he seemed to lunge up it. Each of his steps being long strides as he pulled harder on the rope. Once he was near the top, he grabbed onto the ledge and flipped himself over it. Grabbing hold onto a rope or two, and allowed his form to fall as the friction between his soft underpalm and the rope itself meant nothing to him.

* * *

The captains watching all the recruits simply raised eyebrows, widening their eyes at the blonde bug kid clearing the obstacles with ease.

Once he landed on the other side of the wall, he was already a good distance ahead. Come the combat crawl, they couldn't help but laugh as he had trouble with his horns getting caught in the net

By the time he got out of it, the others were at least over the wall.

Come the rope jump, they weren't sure what to expect, other than the normal.

Swing. Well, somepony didn't give this blonde the memo, because he simply _jumped_ across the distance of 20 ft, and continued on like he hadn't.

Come the monkey bars, they weren't even surprised when he began to swing from bar to bar like the obstacle's namesake.

To top it off, he flipped and stuck the landing on the finish circle. The crowd seemingly ate it up, because he bowed to the applause he received.

* * *

Shining couldn't help but to grin as Naruto finished first. HE wasn't surprised, but most of his family, nor Cadence, had truly seen what the blonde could do. Seeing him clear this like it wasn't a problem had more than a few of them clapping near the end.

He couldn't help but take notice of the fact that Cadence was giving the recruits a good look over. Seeing her expression of focus, which was adorable, he asked her what was wrong.

"I'm just wondering….Do you think Naruto likes sporty mares? Somepony who can keep up with him? I can't help but wonder, maybe that's why none of my choices were working." Shining sweatdropped, as she seriously contemplated this.

* * *

Twilight only stared, as Spike bounced about in his seat. Cheering on his BBBB, as the buggy teen trounced all the competition.

Trixie for all she was worth, was cheering loudly, as her grandfather just kept blinking at the display the changeling was putting on.

Velvet was currently just looking on in slight worry, as the blonde went through all the obstacles, before sighing when he made it to the end first. She turned to her husband, only to find the unicorn stallion was bouncing a bag of something jingly. Rubbing his face on the sack, he opened his eyes to catch his wife staring at him, before he tried to hide it behind him, with a nervous grin.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The changeling stood on the raised platform, hands in his pockets, as he stared at the pony across from him.

Said pony was shaking slightly as she stared at the buggy teen. She, along with many others, had seen what the blonde could do. She couldn't help but lick her lips nervously as she looked down at the large bullseye on his chest.

She was just supposed to hit him three times in the bullseye on his front or back. He was to do the same, as she too wore a bullseye on her body.

A captain raised a flag, as their match was about to start.

"Ready!"

She set herself into the stance of Forefront Hoof. She was a novice practitioner, but she had enough training to maybe take him down. She'd seen him, he was a wild sort. He had speed, flexibility and strength, but she had skill.

Hopefully.

"Go!" And the flag fell.

She darted forward, her form low to the ground, before she came up right in his face aiming with a rising kick. Leaning back, he simply dodged just enough to have it barely touch his nostril.

Seeing this, she flared out her wings in his face, before bringing the leg back around to his mid-section.

So she was surprised to find herself missing as he ducked down, like some sort of frog!

Coming back up, he quickly jabbed her in the solar plexus, getting a call of a point against her, his blow sending her skidding backwards. She only stopped just barely from the ring out circle. Her eyes widened, as she looked back up at him.

She growled, as he stayed standing with his arms in his pockets. He was mocking her, as he simply stood there with a smile.

She set her form back up, arms at 90 degrees to her sides, leg spread, as she had her body turned away from him.

She waited for a moment, before she launched at him again. She set her back leg on the ground, before aiming a kick straight for his center. It wouldn't score a point probably, but it would bring him closer to the ring out. A ringout was still a win without the need for three points.

He slipped to the side as she expected, but she rotated as fast as she could flaring out a wing to take him off guard, before bringing back the leg from before to kick him backwards.

He ducked the wing, and she was hoping she could catch him in the sides of his body or face. So she found herself on the floor, when he grabbed her leg, pulled her close and palmed her in the back sending her across the mat.

"Point!" Another against her! She got back up, as her eyes narrowed at her opponent, only to find him set into stance, unlike before.

Legs spread into a Harden-Horse stance, one hand in a fist held at his right side, with the other fist extended out with the arm slightly bent.

She felt her eyes widen, as she set herself back up again. She didn't know what to expect.

She would prepare the best she could.

So it came as an even bigger surprise to her when she was sent sailing out the ring.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Come the last exercise, most were simply expecting the blond to dominate once more. Until things changed.

"In accordance to the will of the princess!" Most snapped their heads to the podium where all the captains stood, where a certain sun goddess now stood, sceptre in hand, as she whispered to one of the guards.

"We will have a change of event! Will Naruto Uzumaki step forward?!" the captain shouted, as the blonde changeling brought himself to the front of the group. Running over to the podium on the other side of the field from the others and to the podium.

Once there he was tossed a band bearing the princess's mark on it. After looking it over, he put it on his bicep, and was told to face the other direction.

Towards the trainees.

He could already see where this was going, but he grinned when he saw the princess direct a hand covered smile his way.

'Oh the game is on, princess!'

There was a glow from her horn, before the entire field was changed.

A forest. A canopy of heavy foliage appeared between the blonde and the other recruits.

Over by the other group of recruits, they were approached by a junior officer handing them all sets of bands with no markings on them.

Once they were on, they all heard the princess speak, as her voice was projected over the area. In front of her lips was a small, floating dimmed circle, just large enough for her mouth. Each time she spoke it lit up before stopping when she did.

"Hello my little ponies, I apologize for my barging in on this year's Recruit day, but I felt that we should...spice up this year's initiation of it. For the last exercise, I've set up a veritable field, and it will be the top recruit against the rest. For this event we'll have our recruit, Naruto Uzumaki, face off against the rest in a battle of keep away." She snapped her fingers, and the mark on Naruto's band began to glow.

In response each of the trainees themselves had view of a small golden light across from them.

"Recruit Naruto currently holds a band with my mark on it, and you all should be able to see a light emitting from the other side of the field. The light will help you determine just how far from the "target" you are. With the increase or decrease in distance, the light will alter itself. At 5 meters from the target, the light will stop emitting for those up close. The goal of the recruits is to find and apprehend recruit Uzumaki. Naruto's goal is to capture at the least 10 bands by the end of the ten minute mark. Should neither side complete their objective we will call a draw," she finished before, in a flash of golden light, a screen appeared on above the field.

On it was a picture of Naruto on one end, while the rest of the recruits were on the other. Underneath each picture, there was a photo of their bands. In between the two sides was a large map of the field, with dots of red showing the recruits, and a gold one showing the blonde changeling. Finally above the map, was a small countdown, starting at 10 seconds and going down.

 **00:10**

"Once a band has been removed, you will be expelled from the field, and not allowed to re-enter. So my little ponies.."

 **00:05**

"Let the games…"

 **00:02**

"BEGIN!"

 **00:00**

* * *

Most of those in the recruit section were sure of themselves.

Weird looking as he was, the blonde was only one guy. Compared to the forty they had on their side, it shouldn't have been hard to catch and subjugate him.

So it was with that mindset that they ran into the forest, towards that gold light.

* * *

Twilight and Trixie couldn't help but feel nervous for Naruto.

That was a lot of ponies, and even for somepony like Naruto, this was a bit much. Those in the bleachers only watched as the dots from both sides entered the forest. The map expanse showing only that the single gold dot was seemingly strolling into the territory, while the red ones were quickly covering ground.

"Naruto.../Master…"

Spike was worried as well, but he believed in his BBBB, and wouldn't do any less than cheer for him.

Velvet was more than slightly suspicious of her son's friend's chances of winning. She made sure to look to her right, as Night light was currently watching the map as well. His eyes narrowing, as she turned back. Never catching the stallion casually handing a bag of bits to several other stallions waiting in the crowd, as they all added it to a bag in between them.

Cadence looked on, as she saw those dots getting closer and closer to the blonde's position. The red dots had spread out around, seeming to want to pincer attack the gold dot. Turning her eye to her left to get Shining's take on this, she found him grinning, as he saw her look.

When asked why, he merely shook his head. His confidence in his changeling friend, overshadowing the nervousness he had when he was close to the pink alicorn.

"Oh, I'm just wondering how long until the first 'casualty'," he said, only to smirk when there a beep and all turned to see one of the bands of the recruits disappeared.

Said recruit was expelled from the forest, soon after, falling on his rump as he stared back into it.

"I don't even know what happened!" he shouted, much to the confusion of the crowd, but to the amusement of Shining.

In the next moment, there were several more "beep"s, before several other recruits were ejected from the forest in similar fashion.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but to grin, as he stood in the shade of a tree. The sounds of a passing recruit's hoofsteps all he needed to hear, before he lashed out.

His arm came to grab the mare's yellow arm, before he pulled and tossed her over shoulder into an oncoming mulberry blue stallion earth pony.

Collapsing in a heap, they didn't get a chance to get up, before the blonde was above them and slipping off their bands. Their forms stayed still for a moment, before quickly blurring out of the forest.

"How many is that?" he asked out loud, before quickly clotheslining a running pegasus, and tossing him over his shoulder, idly pulling off his band as he did. The sailing, not on his own power, pegasus didn't even touched the floor before his body blurred out of the forest.

Shaking his head, the blonde merely jumped high, as another set of steps made themselves known.

The now visible unicorn mare walked unsteadily into the center of the forest. Her eyes went every which way, as she did her best to keep an eye out for the blond.

"O-okay. Nothing to worry about, _*gulp*_. He's one guy, ha, hah, one guy...oh no." She stopped as her ears flicked to and fro in search of a sound.

His glowing had stopped a bit back, meaning that he was close to her. Somewhere _around_ her. She felt her own heartbeat going crazy, as she turned in place.

Right as she was about to look more, she heard something, and let out a scream as another stallion entered the clearing.

His black fur and yellow hair meshed well with the backdrop of the forest. She could see his horn, meaning he was a unicorn like her. He seemed out of breath, as he clutched his knees, letting out some deep breaths.

"Whoa, hah, I didn't think I'd find anypony else in here! I thought I saw that guy's dot, but it disappeared on me. You see him? Hah," he asked as he steadied himself, her heartbeat coming down from its frenzied state, as she realized it was an ally of hers.

Looking at him, she was glad to have somepony else with her. She didn't want to get caught out of nowhere, alone.

Walking up to him, she greeted him with a hi-5 greeting, and they continued on. Looking every which way,as they looked to see if the dot showed up.

Stopping for a moment, going back to back, she was about to say something, before she heard a shout.

"Alright, you bug bastard! I'm about to show you what's fo-! Huh?!" A voice came from their left, causing her to scream before another recruit came barreling out of the forest.

She calmed down, when he took notice of them, and jogged over looking left and right.

"You guys seen Uzumaki? I could have sworn I saw him in this exact direction, then he disappeared. I figure he's around here somewhere." The pegasus stallion looked every which way in search for a gold dot, but found nothing, putting him on edge.

"We haven't see him either. I think he's playing us. He wants to make us panicked. We have 7 minutes left, so he might be trying to time us out," she said, causing the pegasus to look at her before thinking himself.

"Hmm, you might be right. Besides, now that we're all together, we can get him all at once!" he said, causing her to nod as well.

The black unicorn stallion's back was to them, so they never saw his mouth expand into a grin. He rubbed his hands together menacingly.

"Hey guys, I think I just saw something!" His words caused the two to snapped their heads in another direction, as they rushed over to him.

"What what is it?! Was it uzumaki?! Come out you bastard!"

"Eeehhh?! Where is he?! What did you see?!" The only female of the group screamed, as she joined the pegasus in looking for him.

Neither of them were aware of when they lost their bands, until they felt two taps on their shoulders.

Turning around as one, they saw their black furred comrade twirling their bands, causing them to look to him in shock. At that moment, before they blurred away, his form rippled in orange flame before Uzumaki appeared.

"Bye, bye~" he waved them off, but not before they shouted at him.

"He can transform into other ponies!"

From there, the forest became a cacophony of noise, as ponies in groups panicked.

* * *

Most could not believe the sight, as recruit after recruit came out of the forest. Each one muttering some intelligible words that they didn't understand.

"He came out of nowhere."

"I was so close."

"There were so many mares!"

"My leg!"

"My eyes!"

"He's not equine!"

"He's in the trees!"

The crowd could only watch in awe, as red dot after red dot disappeared one after the other. They could all see the golden dot coming towards red dots, and the reds disappearing as soon as it made contact.

Shining was laughing the whole way through as things progressed.

The screams were the best part!

* * *

They were the last group, as far as they were concerned. They had been together as soon as this started, and each was sure to never leave the others.

"Come on, he's around here, somewhere. I can see his dot right the-!" the earth pony at the front of their group started but stopped, as they all saw the dot disappear.

Meaning…

They quickly went back to back. Four of them, as it were, they could cover all the cardinal directions.

There eyes went everywhere, their ears were set for anything and their bodies were ready!

So it came as a surprise, when they heard a voice echoing from all directions.

" _Oh so you're all that's left?"_

" _Little ponies, roaming the forest~ Each coming to meet their end~"_

" _Once I come around the bend~"_

After those words, they stiffened when they heard the sound of rustling from their left.

They all froze, as they watched that direction prepared for anything.

Seeming to just _appear_ out of the forest like it was water, Naruto looked at the last group.

It was maybe three mares, of all three races, being led by a single earth pony male. He tilted his head at the group, before looking up. They didn't move, awaiting the trap, but the stallion looked up to see the clock above the map, which now had the time limit, was at 45 seconds.

Looking back down, the blonde smiled at them.

"40 seconds left guys. What are you going to do? Listen to the forest, you're all that's left," he stated simply, as if talking about the weather.

They could all feel the sweat coming down the side of their heads, as they looked at the insectoid guy. He was doing nothing but standing there, but it was as if they could see nothing but shadows.

The unicorn mare of the group merely stated the obvious.

"We only have 30 seconds! We have to attack now!" The other mares seemed to agree with her, as they all rushed him. The earth pony stallion stared in shock, as he held out an arm to them.

"No wait!" he tried, but it was already too late.

The second the first mare crossed the distance the forest erupted into smoke,and each of them found themselves at the mercy of a blonde bug.

The earth pony stallion could only stare in shock, as the three were dealt with. Before leaving each clone made sure to blow into the ears of each of the mares, making each one let out a shriek as they zoomed out of the forest.

All that was left was him. Seeing the clock count down from ten, he simply collapsed to his knees, as the blonde strolled forth.

Naruto simply sat in front of him, as the stallion handed over his band, not even offering up a fight.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Standing in attendance with the rest of the defeated trainees, Naruto simply smiled as he could feel the glares of some of the wounded pride around him. Many were, for the most part, depressed that they had been defeated, while a few just wondered _how_.

"I thank you all for your hard work today! You may now call yourselves members of the Royal Guard!" Morse Code spoke from his place at the podium, as the group cheered, before being let go to disperse.

Naruto for his point, was about to simply walk away to the bleachers to the others, but had been stopped by more than a few of the other recruits.

Handshakes, hi-5's, and the like were traded. He was surprised, but perfectly fine with reciprocating.

Moments later, he was far lighter than before, and he had a smile on his face as he met up with his little group.

"That was beyond cool! You were all like "Eeerrryo," "Wham," "Whoosh!" "When I come around the corner!" "And it was all so cool!" Spike's enthused retelling was more than a little hilarious to the ninja, who ruffled his head spines.

"Trixie wasn't worried in the slightest! Master is the best, uh….warrior! Trixie was always sure he would win!" Came the boast of a certain azure filly, he knew she was probably lying.

And she was.

"Wait, I thought you were chewing your fingernails, and saying stuff like "That's unfair to Master!", huh? Little Beatrice?" the elder looking stallion next to Trixie spoke up, causing her cheeks to burn a bright red.

"Grandfather! Trixie did no such thing!" Aw, adolescence.

He was quick to hi-5 Shining, and they locked arms.

"I knew you'd push through, didn't doubt you for a moment." The unicorn stallion grinned, as did the changeling.

"Oh sure you weren't the smallest bit worried," he said with a smirk.

"As a matter of fact, he was laughing the whole way through. Naruto that was amazing! I'm sure there's never been a pony that I know who could have done what you did today!" Cadence came up with a hug too the blonde, to which he returned.

"Well, I would think that Shining knows better than anypony, just _how_ good I am." He grinned, as did Shining.

Twilight Velvet merely walked over and gave him a pat on the back, as she congratulated him. Night Light gave the blonde a crushing hug, as he soon thereafter was rubbing his face against a large bag of jiggling items.

He was taken away by ear, by his wife, as Twilight came forward.

"How? I don't understand! There should have been no statistical way for you to have won, I, I don't get it!" She threw waving arms at him, to which he laughed and crouched to her level.

"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. Tsk, tsk, tsk." He wagged his finger at her. "I can do what I do, because of one reason."

"I'm awesome." He pointed a thumb at himself.

That night, the family and friends had a large outing at a very fancy looking restaurant.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Some Months Later…**_

"Fashion week?" The blonde looked up from the bean bag chair in Shining's room. The comic book in hand had lbe folded in his lap, as he turned his attention to Cadence.

Cadence stood there with that flyer in her hands, as Shining Armor re-entered the room. In hand, he had a box of donuts.

"Donut Joe's Creme Special! Now with Bear claws, and Butterfly Rolls!" He announced to the other teens in the room. Naruto raised his hand in celebration, as he flipped over the back of the chair and rolled to the stallion before coming into standing position.

Cadence merely rolled her eyes at the duo, before the blonde changeling presented a cream puff underneath her nose.

Her mock annoyance was quickly forgotten.

Indulging in the treats, the ninja perked an ear as he could hear the tell-tale sounds of an incoming pony or drake.

"Spike get back here! I told you that I don't want anypony to see it!" That sounded like Twilight.

"But it's better! I'm sure Naruto would love to see it! Naruto, you gotta see this!"

In through the door, and into his stomach, came the running form of Spike. The bug teen did his best, to not fall over, hold onto his food and keep his food in as the drake bodyslammed him.

Good hustle on that one.

"Naruto! Naruto! Shiny! Cadence! You guys gotta see-!" Then in came Twilight, _also_ , tackling him in the stomach, pinching the paper in Spike's hand from his grip.

The blonde for his part, just focused on keeping food in, and not out.

"Spike I told you to stop taking my things! I didn't want anypony to see this!" Twilight said, as she held the paper in both hands, away from the grabby drake. Never noticing Shining Armor looking over her shoulder to look at the paper.

The older brother he was, Shining commented.

"Is that some sort of bug-eyed moose?" Twilight froze, before she turned to see her brother over her shoulder.

"Gah!" She jumped, before landing on her brother's bed. She glared over at him with a pout, before noticing a certain flyer in the room.

Picking it up, she looked it over and looked to Cadence, who was just enjoying all that was going on with a smile on her face.

"What's this flyer all about? Cadence you're going to this?" The pink alicorn nodded, as she pointed at the paper.

"This show only comes once every season, and I wanted Shiny and Naruto to go with me, since they have the week off from training. Plus, it's in Manehattan, we can go see all the cool stuff around the actual city," she said excited, causing Twilight to frown. She never really got fashion, for the most part.

Give her a good book, and she was perfectly fine.

Spike looked up at Naruto with a frown as well, but for different reasons.

"Awwwww, you mean you're not going to even be here?" the draked whine, as Naruto gave his head a good ruffle. The blond knew just how much the drake enjoyed their time together. While the blond couldn't give a lick about some fashion show, he wasn't adversed to seeing some of the other places in Equestria.

Especially if they weren't Canterlot. It was a nice place for the most part, but most of the ponies here _sucked._

"Mmmm, Cadence, you think we could bring Twilight and Spike with us?" he asked, looking down at the drake, and getting a shocked look from Twilight herself.

The pink alicorn tapped a finger to her lip, as she considered it. Letting her eyes trail down to the drake currently giving her the wobbliest set of puppy dog eyes, almost made her fall to her knee and hug him right there.

Oh wait, she did.

Twirling the little dragon in her arms, she stopped for a moment with Spike in her grasp and pointed dramatically.

"Fine then! Boys and girls, pack your bags! We're going to Manehattan!"

Naruto could already feel like this trip was going to be changing.

In a number of ways.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 **And that's wrap on this chapter!**

 **Man let me tell you, it was not easy coming up with that last bit near the end. Mostly because I** _ **want**_ **most of this romance to happen in Manehattan. But I kind of wrote myself into a corner and I couldn't realistically find a way for Naruto to** _ **want**_ **to go there.**

 **I'm going to apologize to all my readers here, because I promised that we were going to get some Naruto x Derpy in this chapter.**

 **And we didn't, which I hate myself for.**

 **Oh make no mistake, I** _ **planned**_ **on there being some. Hell, this chapter was projected to kind of be half that stuff, but….Well character development and introductions got away from me. Also I had to cover my ass, when it came to a certain plot hole for this story, which should be obvious.**

 **All that said, I had to restrain myself from making this chapter longer, if only because I think it'd be feeling like I tacked on the Naruto x Derpy, instead of just wrote a good few scenes of it.**

 **Make no mistake, there is going to be Naruto x Derpy in the next chapter. Derpy's backstory as well, as her family situation are included.**

 **Hoping it doesn't become as bloated as this chapter though.**

 **So yeah, enjoy this one guys. I'm gonna go lay down.**

 _ **~NRK OUT~**_


	3. The Week in Manehattan

He simply looked outside at the passing scenery, as the cart rumbled slightly. His mind doing its absolute best to take in everything he was looking at.

This would be his first venture outside of the walls of Canterlot, save for when he got here. Though this time, he'd be in a more "controlled" state of where he was going to end up.

His eyes looked to his left, as the weight on it shifted slightly.

Now since coming here, and bonding with the little drake, Naruto had come to pamper him a slight bit. Or maybe he spoiled him? He didn't think so.

The snoring form of Spike, curled and turned as he tried to get into the best position for slumber against the blonde changeling's currently dragonesque tail. The appendage was curled around Spike's form, and the small dragon was perfectly comfortable with this.

He smiled at it, before looking across from him to see the sleeping Twilight.

The student of Celestia currently had a book opened in her lap, though it tilted dangerously close to falling. Reaching over, and tilting the book back into place on her lap, he set back to watching the scenery pass by.

Shining Armor and Cadance, were currently up and about in the dining carts, probably enjoying a little lunch.

Naruto chuckled.

Shining had come a long way, when it came to the dates the two shared. The unicorn had been more sure of himself after several of them. It wasn't perfect, Shining still tended to be overly prepared, but he finally came to the realization that Cadance wasn't super uptight.

Cadance, to this day, was happy when the bluenette stopped trying to make every date "perfect." If there was one thing that Cadance couldn't really get behind, it was ponies who thought everything had to be perfect for love to bloom.

Cadance believed in love, just like any other pony, _but_ she was the _Princess_ of Love for a reason.

Ponies didn't need "perfection," so much as they needed a pony who "complimented" them. You had to take the good and bad when it came to a romance.

It was one of the reasons Naruto helped to "sabotage" some of their dates, on Cadance's demand.

It was one of the few things the changeling and alicorn shared in privacy. Shining needed to learn that Cadance didn't care, and for that reason having a little bit of chaos during a few of their dates helped to smother that urgency for perfection he tried to go for.

Cadance was just like her aunt in that regard. Plus, it made the memories of some those dates super memorable.

The changeling couldn't help but think for a moment, before he slowly shifted his tail. The dragonic look it held shaped itself to be longer, before he did his best to not disturb Spike.

He moved the drake over to the opposite seat, where he frowned before cuddling up to Twilight. Said unicorn's head lulled to left, from his position, and landed on the soft spines of Spike's head.

Smiling at the scene, Naruto went to work.

" **Kuchiyose no Jutsu,"** he muttered before a plume of smoke erupted from his hand on the adjacent seat. In the place of the smoke cloud, was the small form of Ma. The purple, and light green, female toad looked around for a moment before settling on the buggy teen.

She smiled, as did he, her cloak settling.

"Naruto-chan, it's been a while." She spoke in soft tones, eying the children in the seat opposite him, as he nodded.

"Yeah Ma, it's been a while. How's old toad Fukasaku doing?" He started, as they spoke for the time it took for Shining and Cadance to make their way to the seats opposite his side.

The ride continued as such, before the train whistled telling them of their destination being within reach.

"It was nice seeing you again Ma," Cadance said with a curtsy, causing the old female to smile.

"It was nice meeting you again Cadance-chan. Shining-boya, Fukasaku said to work on your reflexes next time, says it will be good to be able to react to faster opponents." The unicorn junior officer scratched the side of his head, before nodding.

"Uh-huh, sure. Tell Mr. Fukasaku that I'm always trying. It's not like I don't have Naruto over there keeping me on my toes," the bluenette stated, pointing to the changeling himself, who just grinned.

Cheeky prick.

"Naruto-chan, be sure to summon Pa sometime in the future. I'm sure he'd love to have you speak with him...it'll be important," she said her bit, before dispelling.

Seeing the toad off, the group of teens woke up their smaller group members, before packing up and moving out.

As they exited the train they couldn't help but let their eyes wander, as they moved about the city.

The blonde's eyes currently went every which way, as he took in his environment. At the moment, his clone, which he made on the train, transformed to keep from attracting attention, was carrying a good amount of the bags. Cadance and Shining each carried a little backpack, as well as Spike and Twilight, making the picture not that out of place.

Of course, he himself wasn't transformed, which garnered some attention. _That_ attention, though, he could deal with. Plus, it was easier for Spike to not stand out by himself, so the blonde was perfectly fine with staying untransformed.

The pink alicorn in their midst was currently using a minor illusionary spell, via Twilight, to help alleviate any attention that they might have garnered. At the moment, she looked like no more than a normal pegasus.

Him and Spike were one thing. Seeing an _alicorn_ roaming the streets?

They'd never get a moment's rest.

Currently the group themselves were doing their utmost best to navigate the streets. Cadance's hands held a map, as they tried to find the hotel they'd be staying at.

"I know I remember it being around here somewhere. I think it was at that corner, by the RadShack? Hmm, wait…" hearing the mumbling of their navigator caused the group as a whole to sweatdrop.

Even little Spike couldn't help, but be slightly nervous.

"Oh, Ah-ha! Now I remember. It's at the Golden Ladle Hotel. It's supposed to be only available to the most prestigious of visitors. And guess _who_ got aunt Celly to get her some reservations~" She said with a sing-song tone, as the rest of the group smiled.

Naruto was honestly looking forward to the bed they'd have set up. Several hours on a train could really cause a guy to miss the comforts of a nice bed.

They were quick to move about. Each of them doing their best to stay together in a group. The blonde and his clone kept either of the two children, Twilight or Spike, in front of them, with Cadance and Shining in front of those two forming two lines of three.

"Cadance, you sure this is the right way? I honestly can't make heads or tails of this place," Shining stated, as he tugged on this shirt collar. The Manehattan air was stale and stuffy. Say what you want about the ponies in Canterlot, at least the place was fairly well ventilated.

Naruto couldn't help but agree, as the group traveled the streets of urban culture. Every now and then, the blonde caught glimpses of ponies staring at him and Spike. While the drake was seemingly small and nonthreatening, the changeling was far more grown and eye-catching.

Maybe it was the eyes, the fangs or whatever. They stared for a rude amount of seconds before moving on with their lives. Sometimes he caught kids pointing, with their parents shushing them and moving away from him.

Scratching the back of his shell covered head, he just hoped that they would reach this place soon.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He kind of just let his jaw drop, as they looked at the room they had. He knew he wasn't alone either, as he could see both Shining and _Cadance_ gawking at the sight of the suite.

Or should he say _penthouse suite_!

Cadance was looking down at the key they'd been given by the receptionist, and back up at the room, numerous times.

"Aunt Celestia, this is a bit much…" Cadance said quietly, but the blonde heard it all the same. What did Celestia think they were going to do? Party?!

"It's so cool! Naruto look at this view! I can see the Statue of Harmony!" Spike exclaimed with an enthusiasm the blonde wish he could scrounge up at this point in time.

He was still kind of in the "shocked" phase.

The unicorn male in the room merely laughed nervously.

"Cadance, I think Princess Celestia is spoiling you. A he he, heee~" The hidden alicorn could only nod, as they took in the room.

The space could easily fit a whole night club, if necessary. Neither of those above the age of ten were even considering it.

The large couch in the middle of the room was position as such it overlooked a good portion of the city through the large pane of glass in front of it.

Off to the sides of the couch itself were a couple of things.

Literally right beside the couch was a small table top. The making was of crystal, and it was full of several board games, magazines and a lamp.

On the right of the room were sets of doors, about three. Each one having the words "Our honored guest" written above them.

To the immediate left of the couch was a projector, the film reel was visible from the entrance, and the several large circular objects on the sides as well.

On the left side of the suite was a kitchen. It looked pretty state of the art, and the blonde could spy a fridge, food pantry, deep freezer and _wine cabinet_.

All in all, this place was beyond just being fancy. This was _Fancy_.

It took everything in the blonde to not just run over, and jump into the couch.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The group had settled into the couch, once all were done setting things down.

It had been decided that of the three rooms, Cadance would be getting one, as well as Shining, with Twilight and Spike sharing one room.

Most were against this, none more so than Twilight who knew that there were obviously three rooms that were meant for the three teens.

The blonde ninja waved them off, with a couple of words.

"Guys, guys! The couch turns into a freaking _queen-sized_ bed. I am in no way going to be uncomfortable throughout the whole of this trip."

That decided, it WAS agreed upon that he would be changing in Shining's room, when he had to.

By the time everything was put away, it was approaching evening. It had taken a whole day to get here from Canterlot by train, and the walk had taken maybe an hour or so. They'd left Canterlot at about noonish, and so it was close to maybe four or five at the moment.

"So as was planned, it's fashion week! The latest of trends for this season are going to be coming out, and as such, I will do my best to be on the top of the timetables," Cadance stated, as she laid out a pair of maps. They'd moved one of the fold out tables they found in a corner of the room in front of the couch.

First was a map of Manhattan itself, while the second was far more stylized. The words "Fashion Week" emblazoned in sparkling glitter and color over the top of the second piece of parchment.

The others looked it over, as the picture of a mare and stallion in fancy attire stood in front of the advertisement.

Naruto wasn't really that interested in seeing this "Fashion Week" thing. He came along, more because he didn't really hang out much. Much less in his "previous life", but here it was kind of like a new start.

There were few times he got to hang out with the others back in Konoha. Hell ever since he came back from traveling with Ero-Sennin, he'd only really got to speak casually with the others maybe twice.

He was friends with Shining and Cadance, and saw no problem in suffering through "Fashion Week" for a bit, if only to hang with his bud and his girlfriend.

"Now we have to remember that once we get there, the shows will last for most of the evenings. Once we've seen enough of them, we'll go see a few of the nice eating places around here, and eat dinner," the pink alicorn explained, as she pointed to each location and trailed her fingers over to the next.

All were in agreement, and their plans were set.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"I never thought so many ponies cared about fashion," Twilight couldn't help but mutter, as she sat up on Shining's shoulders. Spike was currently situated on Naruto's shoulders as they looked about at all the ponies.

The avenue for the fashion runways were positively packed, and the group were lucky to get a section somewhere in the middle.

Cadance quickly held up a finger, as her arm lay across her chest in the crux of her other arm's elbow.

"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight~ There are all kinds of ponies that care about fashion. Fashion does wonders for one's image, and is a good idea of what age that pony might be living in. All races have fashion, you just don't know a lot about it."

The filly merely gave her a speculative look, before she wrapped her small arms around the crown of her brother's head, careful of his horn.

"I might be able to find a book on this at Celestia's library," she mumbled, causing the Princess of Love to groan, as all the males of the group laughed.

"Heh, don't worry too much about it Twily. It's not like you _have_ to like or get fashion, that's what ponies like Cadance are for," the junior officer stated, only to hear an "Ahem" from a currently toe-tapping Cadance. He smiled nervously, as Naruto cracked a smirk, and the pink alicorn raised an eyebrow.

"T-that i-is, uhhhh... _Wonderful_ ponies like Cadance. Wonderful, yup, absolutely _incandescent_ ponies like Cady?" He flopped, all the while Naruto was making whipping motions in the background, complete with sound effects. Spike merely copied along, because it looked fun.

Somehow, that made Shining feel a million times more flustered.

Cadance gave him a look, before she smirked.

"Nice save." Shining laughed nervously in relief.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Whew~ Man, I didn't think I would ever go to a fashion show, but I can't say I really dig the experience," the blonde shinobi said, as he stretched his arms sky-high. His hardened plastic seat squeaked only slightly, as he leaned backwards.

"Stop exaggerating Naruto, it wasn't that bad," Cadance said, as she sat opposite him next to Shining. Said unicorn male was situated next to Spike with Twilight sitting opposite the little drake, making their table of five complete.

Currently they sat in the outside section of a cafe near the fashion plaza.

All around them ponies of all races sat, chatted and laughed, as they enjoyed the atmosphere and each other's company. Though that didn't stop a good amount of ponies from staring.

Not even the staff of the establishment they were in.

The blonde tried to remember what this place was called. Looking out at the nighttime sky, up at the over arching covers for the outer portions of the food establishment, he spied the sign, and could only blow out a small breath as he could only see the wooden back of it.

It was kind of stupid, but he really wanted to see the name of this place.

"Shiny, I'm not sure, about this menu," Twilight said, as she grimaced at the laminated choice picker. Shining armor merely looked over at her in confusion, before looking at his own menu, before snickering.

Twilight wasn't amused.

"Don't laugh! It's not funny!" she shouted, as she crossed her arms in a huff. Naruto, unsure of what was going on, merely looked at the menu and trailed down the list of food items.

 _..._

 _Hayburger Deluxe_

 _Manehattan Filope_

 _Gruelin' Mulin_

 _Queen Quesadilla_

…

He tilted his head.

"What's a quesadilla?" he asked, only to get a shudder from Twilight. Shining wiped a tear from his eye, as Spike and Cadance looked on.

"A truly disgusting food item," the protege of Celestia said with as much venom a ten, near eleven, year old could muster. The changeling merely shrugged his shoulders in confusion, before looking back at the menu, before his attention was caught by Cadance as she clapped her hands.

"Good, good, but we now have to discuss a game plan for this week," the princess stated, as those at her table turned to look at her.

"Cadance, what are you on about?" Naruto wondered. She gave him a smile.

"I _mean_ , we should take a good look at what we might be doing for the rest of the week," she explained, as they looked at her in confusion.

"Wait, so we're not going to the fashion show the whole week?" She sent him a look of confusion.

"Why would we do _that_? I like fashion as much as the next girl, but I'm not going to spend a whole week in Manehattan, of all places, looking solely at clothes. The show lasts five-ten hours in the day, but I still won't be attending ALL of them." Shining sent her a questioning look.

She stopped him before he could speak.

"Why would we simply do that, when we have all of Manehattan to look at? Come on Shining, I don't care _that_ much about clothes," she said, causing her coltfriend to scratch the back of his head.

"True, true. So what do you have planned?" She gave him an eager look.

* * *

They discussed what they would be doing for the remainder of their stay in the city of Manehattan, before the waitress came.

Some time later found them full and happy as they finished off their food. Spike was currently patting his belly, as he finished off his Junior Hayburger Deluxe, while Twilight enjoyed her Long Daisy Sub.

Naruto was happy to find that there was some good ole spaghetti on the menu, to which he would thank the cook. It was perfect.

"You guys all ready?" Cadance announced, as she finished dabbing the sides of her mouth with a napkin. The rice pilaf with mango salsa was an utter delight, and she was happy to have ordered it.

"I know I am," Shining commented, as he messed with the toothpick, cleaning out his jaws. The quesadilla was delish, and it was fun seeing Twily all finicky as he ate.

"Sure let's blow this popsicle stand," the blonde of the group said, as Spike looked at him weirdly. He chuckled, as Twilight explained to her adoptive brother.

"It's just a phrase, Spike." The drake merely shrugged his shoulders, before hopping out of his seat.

They got up, and prepared to leave. Tipping the waitress of their table, before moving out of the eatery. Well they all almost did, before Naruto stated he needed to use the bathroom.

Saying they'd wait outside for him the group, minus the changeling, stepped out into the cool night air, stretching out the kinks from sitting down for so long.

The roaming ponies of the night were half of what was normally seen at daytime hours, so it was easier for them to spread out without losing track of one another.

Cadance, disguised the whole day, was just thinking about going back to the suite to stretch out all of herself, horn included. Seeing her coltfriend and his siblings simply lounging around in several places on the sidewalk, she nodded her head.

'A good first day. The next will be better!'

She didn't notice as a pair of ponies came up to her side. One of them a teen maybe a couple years older than Twilight, with a filly probably younger than Spike holding her hand.

The teen was a female unicorn with a pink coat, a violet mane and tail with a floral lavender streak, amethyst eyes, and a Cutie Mark of three brilliant-cut diamonds on her left hand. Currently adorned in a brown jacket, that had short sleeves, and a pair of cargo shorts that were a dark blue.

The filly in question, was a unicorn as well. Sporting a pale purple coat color, a blonde mane, and yellow eyes with no Cutie Mark in sight. Wearing a long sleeved yellow and green striped sweater, and a pair of red shorts.

* * *

Amethyst Star continued moving through the, thankfully, less crowded streets. She made sure to hold onto the hand of filly at her side, as they picked up the pace to her sister's place of work.

"Dinky come on. Just a little bit more, and we can catch her right as she leaves work." The small child moved as fast as her little legs would take her, as she tried to keep up with Amethyst.

"Do you think she'll be happy to see us?" the small filly asked, only to have the older unicorn smile at her.

"What are you even talking about? She'll be ecstatic. She couldn't get enough of you, ya know?" the older unicorn said, causing the smaller one to smile her own smile.

Coming up on Manehattan Moxy Pot, they took notice of a certain group coming out of the cafe. Seeing the ponies come out wasn't surprising, but seeing that small lizard person come out with them made the duo stare.

Feeling Dinky tug at the cuff of her coat sleeve, she turned to her. The unicorn filly was looking on in curiosity.

"Sis, hey sis. What's he?" she asked in a low volume. Amethyst herself, wasn't really sure how to answer that question. She'd never seen somepony like that.

"...I'm honestly not sure, but maybe he's from a different place." She reasoned.

"Like all those other big places you and momma talk about?"

"Yeah, yeah. Like one of those places."

Walking up to the front of the eatery, they looked around at the few ponies outside, and couldn't help but frown. Amethyst, turning to any pony she saw, gave a gentle tap on their shoulder.

The pink pegasus, with the really good looking mane, turned her way with a curious smile on her face.

"Yes?" The lavender-pink unicorn felt her eyes narrow slightly at the accent, but ignored it for now.

"Um, yeah...Have you seen a pegasus pony, with an eyepatch by any chance?" The older teen pegasus looked at her weirdly first, before cupping her chin.

"No, I haven't seen anypony like that. Why?" She asked, meanwhile the duo of unicorns simply sighed, causing the hidden princess to bring a hand up to her mouth in slight alarm.

"...I'm sorry?" Amethyst waved it off.

"No, no, it's not your fault. We were just expecting a certain somepony to be done and meet us here, by this time," the pink filly teen explained. Dinky was in the background, taking looks at Spike, as the drake gave her a puzzled look. The two smallest gave each other timid waves.

"Oh, that's...I don't want to say 'good', but I'm happy to have not have offended anypony," she elaborated, only for Amethyst to once more wave her off.

"Like I said, it's fine. We'll just wait for her to come out," she said, before they heard the door open again.

"Hey guys, sorry about that. Probably shouldn't have drank all that lemonade, heh." a tall black, pony-looking, bug-like equine came out of the cafe.

The duo found themselves staring once more.

The bug-pony seemed to catch their staring, and gave a blank stare back.

He blinked.

They blinked.

He blinked once more.

"Uh...Yo," he said with a wave, causing the two to break out of their shock.

Dinky couldn't help, but to look up at the pony-like being. She'd known that boys liked bugs, she kind of did too, but she didn't know that they could turn _into_ bugs.

Amethyst merely flinched, as those composite eyes blinked their way.

" _*Gulp*_ H-hello, there sir...Um, nice t-to meet you?" she stuttered out, as the bi-horned being looked at them with a frown, causing Amethyst Star to look away.

Dinky on the otherhand.

Looking up at the blonde bug stallion, she tilted her head.

"I didn't know colts could turn into bugs."

"Dinky!" Her elder sister admonished with a tug, but the smaller unicorn merely frowned in confusion.

"But, I've never seen a bug pony before! And he's a boy. Boys like bugs, maybe he liked bugs so much, he became one?" She stated, before turning back to the blonde who was confused for the moment.

"That's rude! You're not supposed to just point and talk about other ponies like that! I'm sorry, sir. She jus-" She scolded some more, before turning to apologize to the, ugh, b-bug stallion, only to find him covering his mouth.

"Heh heh. Oh wow, that's seriously the first time I've _ever_ heard that one. Hah!" he said with a snicker, before crouching down to Dinky's level. Said filly looked at him in curiosity, while Amethyst locked up slightly.

"What's your name kid? Name's Naruto. Glorified pony turned bug. Coolest guy in Equestria," Naruto told her.

"My name's Dinky Doo, and this is my sister. Sis come on, and say hi." the two looked up at the elder between the two unicorns, but she lay frozen in place.

"Your sister okay there, Dinky?" The filly nodded her head.

"Y-yeah. She's just REALLY bad with bugs," Dinky explained, to which Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"Hmm, yeah, I can see that. Lots of ponies, really don't seem to like bugs." He shrugged.

"I like bugs! I know lots of colts do, but I do too!" He smiled at her.

"That's a good attitude to have. Not many ponies, including grown-ups, can really take that step to accept someone different to them. Keep up that attitude, and you'll go places Dinky," Naruto said, before getting up from his crouch.

"Okay guys, time to head back. I could seriously enjoy some sleep right now," he stated, with a stretch, before the group agreed and moved on.

Dinky waved them off, with a shout.

"Bye mister!" She saw him raise a hand in a wave back at them, before his group disappeared down the street.

The door to the cafe opened once more, and a pony stepped out.

"Oh dear, I hope I can get home to- Dinky?!" the pony, a grey pegasus mare with a white medical eyepatch, exclaimed in shock, before being hugged by the unicorn filly. Said pony was seemingly in her later teens, probably as old as the group of teens from before. A uniform for the eating establishment on her person. A dark green vest with a badge, over a lime green short sleeved shirt, covered her top. For bottoms she wore a black skirt that came to her knees. On her badge, was the name "Derpy Hooves."

"Momma!"

"Dinky, Amethyst, what are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be at home with dad?" she asked, even as she hugged Dinky back.

Amethyst still being frozen, her little sister answered.

"Dad was tired, and so we said we'd come and get you this time." She smiled up at her mother-figure, causing Derpy to smile down at her, only turn to her sister in worry.

"Is Amethyst okay?" Dinky merely laughed.

"She just saw a REALLY BIG bug!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

When the second day of Fashion Week kicked in, the group had decided that they weren't going to attend. Now dressed in their more casual garb, they were off to explore the city.

Cadance held the lead in her ensemble of brown shorts that ended at just above knee level, with some suspenders crossing over her white mid-riff revealing t-shirt. On her head she had a tan bucket hat, with a pin in her mane.

Shining followed after her, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his yellow polo. Over his eyes were a pair of dark brown sunglasses, while he wore a pair of blue shorts for bottoms.

"This is going to be fun," the unicorn royal guard stated, to which Cadance nodded.

"You got that right."

"Come on, Naruto, I remember there was a bookstore somewhere around here!" came the sound of a certain lavender filly, as Twilight exited the hotel, Spike and Naruto in tow.

The filly was currently wearing a beige shirt with the words "Bright Filly" written on the back. On her bottoms she had a purple skirt that was adorned by stars.

Following after her was the shorter form of Spike, dressed in a pair of overalls, with a dark green shirt.

"You know, it's amazing just how excited she can get over some pieces of paper," voiced the changeling, as he stretched the back of his head. Set in a white shirt that was embezzled with a large outline of a circle, with the words "Point Blank" written above the shape. On his bottoms he had on a pair of camouflage cargo shorts.

"That's Twily in a nutshell," Shining teased, causing the filly to pout at her BBBFF, as the others laughed.

"Come on guys, time to get this show on the road!" Cadance announced, and they were off down the street.

Their time of fun had begun.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Ooh, Balking Fair's Scholastic Workbook! Oh my gosh, The first edition of Unicorn Vesta! I thought I'd never find thi-! Impossible! I never even knew there was a new philosophy book by Muse Vector!"

The group just watched on as a lavender blur moved from every portion of the bookstore in quick fashion. Their eyes moving from side to side in succession, as Twilight refused to stay still long enough for her to actually begin reading even the back covers of books.

"I didn't think she could get _this_ excited," Spike commented, as he lost track of where the smallest unicorn of their group went, after several minutes. The others either laughed, or chuckled nervously, as they entered through the book store.

Naruto spied Shining and Spike breaking off to go into the comic book section, while Cadance veered off into a shelf on psychology. The ninja himself went in search of the adventure titles.

Finding it, he was currently running his finger over the stream of book spines, eying titles of all sorts. Looking over a couple more, he picked up a book entitled _The Eight Spell Treasures_. Reading over the back, he gave it a speculative look before tucking it under his arm.

Turning back to the shelf space, he looked on, only to lock eyes with a mare to his right.

Said mare had large fluffy looking orange mane, and caramel brown eyes. Her fur was a light yellow in color, and her Cutie Mark was seemingly a set of three carrots on her left hand. She was wearing a light purple blouse, with small ruffles on the shirt hem, with a long black skirt that reached her calves.

She stared at him, and he sighed for a moment, awaiting the reaction.

Well, he got one he wasn't expecting.

"Um, is there another copy of that book?" he nodded his head at the normal re-!

He snapped his head in her direction for a moment, before her words registered.

"Oh, um! I mean, I think there was a couple more that way?" he asked, more than answered. She gave him a confused frown.

"So there are, or aren't there?" She asked bemused, and he slapped himself back into focus.

Literally, that is.

Ignoring the mare's look of discomfort at his earlier action, he coughed into his hand.

"I mean, yes. There ARE some more over there." He pointed more confidently this time, to which she smiled.

"Thank goodness, I've been trying to get that for a friend of mine for a while. She's not really one for more...complexity driven stories, but adventure always seems to get her blood flowing," she explained with a smile, allowing Naruto's own to come through.

"I think I can get behind this mare's way of thinking. I've never really been one for books….ever. It's only been recently that I've even really started _reading_ for fun." She grinned at him, before looking at him with a focused look, before shaking her head with a laugh.

"Sounds like you two would get along great. Thanks for the help, I mean it, this should help her relax for a bit at least." Her piece said, she turned to go down the aisle to find that book, before she heard him speak again.

"Could I ask one more question?" Turning at the sound of his voice, she found him giving her a frowny look, eyebrows knitted together in a conflicted expression.

"Yes…?" He took a breath, and spoke.

"Well...I'm used to ponies, not taking too kindly to my appearance. That is to say, I'm more used to the weird stares I'd get from somepony, than one just…" He tried to find the right words.

"Casual?" She supplied, which had him laughing as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah," he said simply, causing her to smile at him.

"I think I can understand what you mean." The blonde gave her a look of disbelief.

"Really? Not to be rude, but you look just like every other pony I've seen, since I've been here."

"Oh, I don't mean me. I mean, my friend Derpy. You see, she has a...disability. Ponies treat her differently because of it. I learned that just because she's slightly different, doesn't mean she should be treated any differently. So neither should you," she said proudly, causing him to grin right back at her, which caused her to winch slightly.

"Though you may want to be careful with the grinning." he scratched the back of his head with a laugh.

"Good idea. Thanks, I mean it." She nodded her head, before he thought for a moment, and tossed his book to her.

Catching it, she looked up confused, only to find the changeling had disappeared.

Looking around for a moment, she decided that it was just her good luck, and not a ghost, and skipped away with the book in tow.

Jumping down from the ceiling, the blond was happy to know that there were plenty of also tolerant ponies as well. So with a grin on his face, he turned around to continue on his way, only to run into a grinning Cadance.

She had _that_ look in her eye that he hated more than anything.

" _Naruto~_ " Oh Kami fucking dammit! He saw her eyebrows wiggle, before she tried to dash after the mare from before.

"Cadance, no!" He tackled her, before allowing his tail to wrap around her, and keep her in place.

"Love! Must! Prevail!" He could feel her struggle against her bindings. It was enough to make him focus his efforts into keeping her restrained.

When the others finally found them, it was Naruto currently hanging her from his tail upside down, and her still struggling to break free.

"Uh, Naruto? What exactly am I looking at?" Shining couldn't help but ask, as he tucked his purchase underneath his arm. Looking at the form of his marefriend trying to break out of her bindings, was slightly humorous, but it did still raise the question.

Twilight looked on, staring over her pile of books, as Spike currently took a seat on his rump and read his new comic book.

"Cadance was trying to set me up with another mare again," the blonde said, as Shining let out an "Ahhh~" in revelation.

"Come on Naruto! I can totally set you up with..with...what was her name again?" Her struggling stopped for a moment, as she asked her question.

The changeling looked at her for a moment, before his eyes widened.

The next few moments, found Naruto slamming his face, repeatedly, into a hardback book.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The changeling licked the orange, frozen liquid with glee. His actions only mimicked in time, by the small drake by his right side. On his left Twilight used a spoon to eat out of her bowl, unlike the two males who had a cone.

Her spoon making another dip into her pistachio ice cream, she hummed as she watched her brother and foalsitter from afar. The three were currently on a bench away from the cou0ple who had taken up a table.

Between them was a large glass, filled to the brim with a Mudslide dessert. In the large ice cream drink, were two separate straws, and one large single straw, that had a heart shape in it's center with two exits leading from it.

They had decided to watch on, as Shining and Cadance enjoyed a semi-romantic moment.

He could feel his tongue flick out, as he hiccuped slightly, that strange smell came back again.

As of late, he'd been noticing that it became more pronounced. Nowadays, he could actually taste something in the air, and it was a slight craving that he couldn't help, but feel a hankering for.

He normally drowned it out with food though.

Twilight from her place next to Naruto, could only stare on, spoon in her mouth. She removed the utensil, and couldn't help but frown.

"Love between ponies is so confusing." Naruto stopped licking for a moment, as Spike continued, the drake in his own little world at the moment.

"Oh yeah? How so?" She gave him a conflicted look.

"I hear Cadance talk about it, all the time. 'One day Twilight, you'll understand' or 'It's just complicated Twilight, don't worry about it.' That's just it, though, _why,_ is it so hard to understand? I know there's a psychological part to it, as well as a physical one, but Cadance says it's more than that. Do you get love Naruto?" She explained, and then asked, causing the blonde to actually freeze in place for a moment.

"Well, I mean, Twilight that's a complicated feeling," he started, which only caused her to look to the ground.

"So why don't ponies study it? Cadance says love is amazing, so why don't ponies study it, so they can all have it?" This question only made Naruto more conflicted.

"...I honestly don't know the real answer to the first one, but I can give you the right idea to the second. Love isn't something you can clearly keep an eye on. Love between two people, ponies, race, whatever, is complicated because it doesn't necessarily make sense," he started, taking a lick of his ice cream to keep his tongue wet.

"Love can be tricky, because there all types of it. For example, your dad and mom. They obviously love each other very much, you and Shining are some example of that. That said, your dad obviously doesn't love you, the same way he loves your mom. Same how Celestia loves Spike, but doesn't see you the same way. You love Spike and Shining, as your brothers, but you share love with Cadance as somepony you hang with..." He saw he had Spike's attention as well, and nodded his head.

"Love is complicated. It's mysterious, weird, hard to get, easy to get, bad, good, taboo and heavenly. Love itself is something that can make ponies the greatest heroes, or the worst villains. It only takes one ounce of love to change somebody, good or bad. You just CAN'T study love." She sent him a look.

"Why?" He frowned.

"That's a loaded question young lady." Came a voice behind them, and the trio looked back to see a stallion walking towards them from the trail in the park in the background.

The stallion's coat was a tan, with mane that reminded them of raspberries. He was had slight wrinkles around his forehead, and yellow eyes, denoting his older age. On his right hand, was a Cutie Mark of several barrels put together. He was dressed in a mix of yellow sweatpants, and a large floral looking red, button up shirt.

"I don't get it. Mr…" He laughed.

"Rolling Barrel is my name, but I don't think that's your question." She nodded her head.

"Why is love like this? It's been around for so long, yet it seems like ponies still can't figure it out," Twilight reiterated.

"Well, let me ask a question. From what your friend told you right here, do you think it's possible to love somepony the same way, as you did another?" The filly scrunched up her face in thought.

"From what was previously stated, no?" He nodded his head, before grinning.

"Well, you see that's absolutely correct, and yet wrong at the same time. It's very possible to love someone the same way. Like say your little lizard guy, right here. What's he to you?" he asked.

Looking to Spike, who simply smiled at her, she smiled as well.

"He's my brother. My little brother." Rolling nodded his head.

"From what I heard, you have another brother too, right?" he waited for her to nod, "So don't you also love him like a brother?" Twilight froze in place, as she thought about it.

"Exactly, 'love' isn't just bound by one set of rules. It has rules that shoot every which way, depending on the situation. My...late wife, she was somepony I adored. She was an inspiration to me, when we were younger. She was my idol, then later my best friend, and then my wife, it didn't change anything at all about how I felt about her, just added more things for me to love about her." He turned to Naruto, and gave him a look in the composite eyes, causing the blonde to shuffle.

"I bet you had a previous heartbreak, as of recently huh?" His words gave the blonde pause, as the stallion nodded.

"Yup, your bug friend here seems to know exactly how complicated love can get. Let me see, I bet you had a girl you had a crush on, and 'loved' yeah?" Naruto was feeling slightly uncomfortable, but he nodded.

"Did you ever get the girl, my boy?" Here the ninja frowned, but shook his head.

"Nah, she was my friend, but she never really saw me the way I wanted her to. She liked this other guy, and to this day, I'm sure she still does. I did so much for her, but I never really got to anything beyond 'friend' status." Twilight looked to Naruto in saddened shock.

"But, why? I don't get it? You," she pointed to Rolling, who wore a solemn smile. "You said your wife, was your friend and then your wife. How come it didn't go the same way for Naruto?" She was at her points end. Rolling merely gave a small smile.

"Love is weird like that. You sometimes don't find it in the pony you were expecting, and even the pony you might _want_ to find love in, might not see you that way ever..."

"Because love in this, and any world beyond, is one of the greatest contradictions of any time." he finished. He looked to his pocket, and pulled out a pocket watch, and checked the time.

"Whoops, jittery jam! I gotta go! Good luck kids, and Twilight? Don't try to understand love too much. And you, young bug-gentlestallion," Naruto looked up at him, as the man gave him a thumbs up.

"I don't think you should give up on love either. You may have lost it once, or twice, but you always have to keep trying. You will find it, even if it's in the most unexpected ways." His piece said, the middle aged pony went back to the park path, and ran off.

They all just stood there for a moment, before turning back to ice cream parlor.

Seeing that the lovebirds were both about finished, Naruto got up to get ready to greet them.

"Naruto?" Turning back at the voice of Spike, he saw the drake giving him a bemused look.

"What's up Spike?"

"Do you understand love? I'm just confused." The six year old merely scratched his noggin, as Naruto looked back on ahead.

"I'm honestly not sure if I ever did."

 _ **~TCL~**_

As he laid on the extended bed of the couch, he couldn't help but look outside at the stars through the window.

That moon currently looming in the sky, was shining down it's glow all over the city of Manehattan, making the spots not covered by clouds, but by pools of moonlight.

Even as he sat up, and stared longer down the way, he couldn't help but run his mind back to that conversation they had with Rolling Barrel.

He tried to toss around, all that was said, but he couldn't help but focus on one thing.

* * *

 _Because love in this, and any world beyond, is one of the greatest contradictions of any time._

* * *

Those words, couldn't have rung more true for his life. For the most part.

They brought up the memory of his fights with Sasuke.

* * *

" _You've never known what family is! He took everything from me! You'll never understand!"_

* * *

Turning onto his other side, he felt his mouth shift into a grimace.

Love could breed such hate, it was true. He'd seen it first hand, but at the same time.

* * *

" _I'm here of my own free will!"_

" _I wanted to be with you!"_

" _Because, I love you!"_

* * *

Love was a beautiful thing, that brought people closer together.

Yet…

* * *

" _Because I love you!"_

* * *

Why did Hinata's seem so different?

When he compared it to his love for Sakura, was it the same?

Was Sakura's love for Sasuke, similar to Sasuke's love for his brother? Or was it more powerful?

Was Sasuke's love for his family, truly the one thing that separated them?

'Twilight was right, love is hard.' He sighed, before getting up and going to the kitchen.

 _ **Play ~Naruto Alone Ost~**_

He rummaged through the fridge for a bit, before settling in on some milk. Walking back over to the sight above the city sights, he sipped at the dairy beverage.

Hearing the sounds of soft hoofsteps on carpet, he closed his eyes, before turning his head to see Cadance.

The alicorn was standing there by the couch, in all her teddie covered glory. It was a beautiful sight, and he would be well to admit, Cadance was attractive in every sense of the word.

Feeling his cheeks heat slightly, he turned back to the sight outside, sipping at his milk as Cadance came up to his side.

"..."

"..."

"..Twilight came to me today." She started, and he merely flicked his ears in her direction.

"She was asking so many questions about love! I was so delighted. I thought she might have been open to the idea of trying it...then she told me about your conversation." He twitched at this, but said nothing, as she laid a hand on his shoulder. Soft fur, met harder exoskeleton, and he eased down.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?" He looked to her once more, cheeks done flaring, before nodding.

"Is there a reason, you don't try to at least accept some of the dating advice I give you?" He honestly wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I, I...I don't know." Seeing this, she frowned a bit.

"Not to be too imposing, but does this have anything to do with that girl you had a crush on?" He snapped his head in her direction, wondering how she knew-!

"Naruto, Twilight told me _everything_. Not just her own questions, but everything that happened in the conversation, with this elder stallion, Rolling Barrel was it?" He looked uncomfortable, as he looked down to the side.

"I...I liked her a lot you know? I mean, I think I liked her. She was so pretty, so smart. She liked this other guy, my...friend, who got all the attention in the world from her and everyone else. I figured, if I just got her to look at me the way she looked at him, I might have proven something." Cadance stayed silent, as the changeling stopped for a moment and finished his milk.

Rolling the carton in his hands, he tossed it back, and didn't look as it fell into the trash basket.

"Her name was Sakura. We were classmates, and then teammates. Throughout the years, well okay technically, it was maybe a couple of months, we worked together with our other teammate. My friend, Sasuke. We went through so much, as we worked together, and every chance I got, I asked her out on dates, and stuff. She liked Sasuke, so maybe I thought being better than him was the way to win her heart." He continued, and she nodded for him to go on.

"Then Sasuke...left, and well, I made a promise to her to bring him back. Some years later, I come back, and she's better than she was before. She'd cut her mane when we were kids, and I liked it either way, but she kept the look. Yet, even when we met back up, she still didn't look back at me the same way I did her...We met our old teammate again, and I could see how she looked at him. The way she said his name." His fist clenched involuntarily, at the thought.

"...It sounds like you gave everything for her." Cadance simply stated, and he only nodded.

"Everything and more."

They sat in silence, one in contemplation of what she was told, and the other stuck in the memories of his past.

Taking several more moments, she spoke once more.

"Wasn't there anyone else, you ever thought would be worth your time?" Seeing the look he sent her way, she held up a hand, and continued.

"Naruto, I understand what you mean. Truly I do, but from what I'm hearing from here, what you were doing was unhealthy. You tried hard, made your feelings known, and even made what seemed like a lifelong promise. You did everything for this mare." While she spoke, Naruto had to stop himself from correcting her on the mare part.

"Love is complicated, and you know how hurtful it can be, but there are times where it can be the pony themselves causing the hurt to no one else but their own state of being. You seemed so set on this girl, that you ignored all possible other options. You trapped yourself into a promise," she said.

"That's not true! I had to bring him back, Sasuke was going into a dark place he wasn't going to come back from. I was the only one who could get through to him. He was my brother in all but blood, and no one, not even you can tell me other wise." He seemed to glare at her, causing her to flinch back.

He just became aware of what he'd done, and looked away in shame. Looking back at the bug teen, Cadance, let out a breath, twirling her fingers from her chest away to the air away from her.

Thinking over what he'd just said, she couldn't help but focus on one thing.

"Naruto," she called him, but he was doing his best to not look at her. Sighing, she picked up a magazine from the table at the side table, and rolled it.

The next moment, found Naruto being bopped on the side of the head. His eyes blinked as he felt it, before looking over at his alicorn friend. Cadance even after being shouted at, just smiled at him understandingly.

It simply made him feel more guilty.

"Naruto, the more I drum over your words, the more I can't help but notice something." He tilted his head in her direction.

"Naruto, are you sure, you're not just doing this to beat Sasuke?" He turned on her, for a moment, but remembering what he just did he stewed on her words.

He looked down with a conflicted frown.

"From what you've said, it always seems to lead back to this Sasuke pony. You went so far as to say you were as close as brothers, Naruto. I don't think you liked this Sakura girl as much as you say you did." He still frowned, but he was at the least listening.

"Naruto this may sound weird, but can you tell me about Sasuke. And I mean, from your point of view." He did look at her weirdly for a second, before he scoffed.

"He was a grade A bastard. I didn't really know him outside of the academy, that much. We'd pass each other every now and then, but for the most part we knew where we stood with one another." He started.

"We sort of hated each other…" She frowned at this, but blinked come the next bit.

"...but at the same time, we understood, kind of. We didn't meet eye to eye, and to this day, I still want to punch him in the face, but we respected each other...Then his family was killed by his brother." She gasped, but he continued.

"After that, he was even worse off than before. He shunned everybody. Praise, friendship, glory and girls. He was the best of the best, and knew it. He only cared about that for all of our childhood. After we graduated, we were put on teams, and me and him were set to the same one. The prodigy and the dead last, and Sakura being the top girl in academics was also on our team." He may not have realized it but he start to smile.

He explained about their "quests" outside of the village, to help other ponies. About these tournaments that they went through, and the like. He recounted all the way up to the bit near their last fight, where he omitted a few things.

"He just left, for no other reason but because of his brother, who'd done something so terrible to him. Now that I think about it, it was kind of stupid of him to even listen to the guy, all things considered. Kind of wish I could have said that to him, when my fist was caving in his face...I didn't want to lose what we had. By that point, even though I don't think he realized it, or actually, yeah he did. We were friends. He saw me, as the same as he was," he said, before she filled it in.

"Equals," she supplied, causing him to grin.

"But that's not just it, you admired him, didn't you? He was not only family, but somepony you wanted to recognize you." He nodded his head, before she closed her eyes.

"Naruto, I think you only liked Sakura, because you were trying to one up Sasuke. She was someone he had, and you saw it as a sort of challenge? Possibly, there was some attraction, but it doesn't seem like you liked this girl for her, so much as for what she represented." Cadance explained, causing his frown to deepen.

"Do you know what I believe 'love' to be?" This got him to focus in on her with interest. He saw her eyes focusing outward, toward the skyline from the window.

Bringing his own gaze to the world outside the top of hotel, he watched the stars sparkle in the sky. Those small shining lights, dancing around, over and behind the moon, in the nighttime sky.

"Love is the feeling of completeness between two souls. The binding agent that will bring two sols and meld them to one another. That connection may change in time, fading into nothingness, or becoming stronger than even the most resilient metals. Love bonds us to one another, and is one of the greatest driving forces of this world." She brought her hands up, opening them, and clasping them together along with her words.

"Your bond with Sasuke was powerful enough that it drove you to always chase after him. He was your other half, as I'm sure you were his." His lips turned to a thin line.

"I get what you're saying, but I really hope you aren't implying something weird." Naruto rose an eyebrow at her in suspicion.

Cadance merely hid her laugh behind a hand, as the blonde joined in a moment later. Naruto ever the oblivious to her inner thoughts.

'Okay, so maybe he _isn't_ gay. I can cross off half of _that_ list.'

"So, does this mean, you'll take some of my dating advice from now on?" She looked to him in curiosity. She was more surprised, when she saw him give her a frown, she'd honestly thought he'd-

"I'll think about it. Maybe...maybe," he said, only to find himself in the biggest hug he'd ever received since coming here.

"Oh Naruto, you'll never regret this! Everypony should have the chance to feel LOVE!" she somehow managed to whisper and shout at the same time.

Breaking apart from one another, she gave him one more pat on the shoulder before retreating back into her room.

Seeing her off, he turned his gaze back to the view out the window. Back to the picture of shining stars, and a incandescent moon.

"The bond of completeness, huh?" How many did he have to have, before he could find it?

His other half, that would truly make him whole, in this world.

 _ **~End Song~**_

 _ **~TCL~**_

The blonde changeling merely stretched, as the group set out from the fashion show. Arms stretched behind him, as they moved past the crowd of other ponies and the like.

At his side, Shining cracked his back, stretching his arms the whole way.

"I swear, these ponies can get kind of rough. It's just clothes." The unicorn would get no debate from the blonde. Naruto didn't even care about fashion, and yet he had been subject to some pretty weird ideas for what ponies considered clothing.

Who thought that sand wear would ever be popular. Freaking _literal sand_ clothes. How ever they were being held up, he hope the pony who made them was thinking straight.

Them, and whoever was planning to _buy_ the damn things!

Coming up behind them, was Cadance, Twilight and Spike. The lone dragon, was quick to escape the territory of estrogen, and rush to their sides. Letting out a breath, as Shining ruffled his head spines.

"Never again."

Cadance looked skyward, as the group moved themselves across the street from the fashion arena.

"I think we still have a few more hours, before we'll turn in. I say we get something to eat, to tide us over." They were all in backing for that idea, and they moved around the streets.

Annoyingly, most of the food places were either packed with the rest of the fashion week goers, or full of no less than the maximum occupancy.

Everywhere they walked, they couldn't find a good place. Anywhere farther just wasn't applicable. They wanted to be able to eat, and then quickly get back to the hotel.

"Ugh! This is getting ridiculous, is no place around here opened?" Spike grumbled, as they passed another eating location. The teens of the group could see the lines leading into the each cafe, restaurant and deli. The only silver lining, was that if one wanted to see the fashion models outside of the show, all you had to do was look in a nearby window of an eating establishment.

Looking into a window, Naruto caught sight of a mare in a large brown trenchcoat. She had on black sunglasses, and he could see a dark blue mane from underneath her fedora and her pale yellow coat from in between the coat crevices.

Shaking his head, he found that they'd circled around back to the front of the hotel.

"Oh come on!" Spike exclaimed, as the others slumped as well.

Twilight cupped her chin for a moment, before she blinked, eyes going wide. She felt her hand go over her eyes in exasperation.

"I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier," she said, catching their attention.

"We could just order in!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto felt his eyes blink slowly, as he came to consciousness. His hand came up to his face, as he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes.

"Ugh, that is the last time I suggest that we order some alcohol." He muttered, as he rubbed the stinging headache away. He felt the grogginess recede slightly, before looking over his place on….the floor?

"How did I get here?" Looking around, he saw he was sleeping curved to the couch itself. He looked up to find that he was underneath the pull out bed section, and crawled out. The light formerly blocked by the cushion, now invaded his eyes, and he blinked even more so.

Looking over to the bed, he had to hold back a snicker.

Shining was currently sitting upside down on the couch backend. Legs over the back, and body on the cushion/bed section, tongue lounging out of his mouth. Over him was Cadance, as she was laid flat across stomach, one wing propped against his legs, as the other was folded loosely.

Spike and Twilight were currently cuddled together, by Shining's head, a bowl of leftover popcorn was spilt onto the pull out mattress. The unicorn was hugging the drake from the back, and was doing her best to dig themselves into the cushiony material below them.

He allowed his lips to form into a smile, as he looked at this scene. His friends were so carefree and even now, the blonde could feel it in himself.

It really drove home how different this world was from his own, and thinking that made him think back to the conversation he had with Cadance last night.

Was Sasuke the only reason he liked Sakura? Cadance did say that there was some attraction in there, but how far did his own feelings go, and his feeling of one-upping Sasuke connect?

As he thought about this, he couldn't help but feel slightly lightheaded.

'The alcohol was a seriously BAD idea! Oh Kami, or wait, Sweet Celestia...nope, still can't say it.' He held his head in his palm, before he felt like he was hotter than he should have been.

He looked over to the projection screen that was pulled from the space above the large window to the outside world.

He decided that maybe he should go for a walk.

He stealthily moved about the room, doing his best to avoid snagging his hoof on an errant soda, or wine/beer, bottle as he moved to Shining's room.

Getting out of his casual garb, he donned an orange tank top, and pulled on a pair of forest green sweats.

Exiting and going to the door, he made sure to grab his card for entry and slipping a few bits into his pockets just in case.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Oh kami, this air feels so _good~_ ," he cooed in relief, as he sat at a bench in the park. He leaned back with a large smile, as he closed his eyes, and allowed the cool night air to push back his shell.

He allowed his legs to kick out without regard for anybody who could possibly even be here this time of. He could hear the sound of small moths as they buzzed around a nearby streetlamp.

He let out a sigh, as he allowed his eyes to slide open. He glimpsed at those skyward lights, and reached his hand towards them.

"Maybe she was right?" He honestly didn't know, and he couldn't help but focus on it.

He didn't want his feelings for Sakura to fake. He didn't want those feelings to be another failure in his life.

He slapped a hand over his eyes, and groaned.

"I don't want to fail at falling in love," he croaked out, and even now he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of water run against his hand. He didn't want to acknowledge the tear, not right now.

"Oompf!" He heard a noise, and felt the vibration of somepony hitting the floor.

After tripping over his own hooves.

He jumped to his feet, as he took in the form of the fallen pony.

A green uniform, with the words of Manehattan Moxy Pot on the back. He could a pair of grey wings pushing through the holes in her outfit, and could see the tuft of pale blond mane on her head.

He rushed over to her side, and couldn't help but jump back, when she shot up into a sitting position.

"Uhm, are you okay? I didn't mean for that to happen! I didn't think there would be anypony out this late, and..." He started, but couldn't help but notice that the mare was facing away from him.

He tapped her shoulder, and snapped her head in his direction, nearly causing him to jump back.

He saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at him. Well, one was, then it wasn't, as the other pair began to go cross-eyed in different ways. He couldn't help but notice, that a bar of red going across her face, as well as the slight alcohol in the air.

She seemed to be not all there, as she looked in his direction once more, before looking around.

He wondered if she even knew where she currently was, but stopped short when she began to talk.

* * *

Derpy Hooves was a mare of many things.

Simplicity, moving forward and, most of all, patience and muffins.

She'd always drove herself to do the best she could when it came to the capability that she had. She wasn't the most coordinated pony, nor the best with directions, but she had to wonder how she'd gotten to the floor.

"Uhm, are you okay? I didn't mean for that to happen! I didn't think there would be anypony out this late, and..." She heard something, but for the most part, her mind was trying to come up with a reason for why she was on the floor.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned to that direction with gusto. Maybe somepony could tell her where she was, and how she got to the floor.

That said, her vision wasn't exactly doing her any favors, not that it did usually, and she could barely make out the shadow of something as it moved slightly.

Turning her head to the left and right to shake off the blurriness, she tried to focus in on the shadow again.

The first thing to come into focus was white object against the shadow. Two of them in fact, as well as large big blue eyes and a pair of protrusions from the top of, assumably, its head.

Many who knew her, would know that she fancied herself a creative pony. Usually in the form of her imagination, because your own imagination was a good place to escape to when the real world got complicated.

Her friend Golden harvest even bought her a new book!

So, when her alcohol addled mind brought up the fact that those white things were fangs, the protrusions horns, and the big blues were eyes of some sort.

She could be forgiven, hopefully, for her sudden attack on the forest beast, Mondomezza.

* * *

Naruto could only snap his body backwards, as the mare's body jumped up, and she sent a kick in his direction.

"Whoa! What?!" He exclaimed, as he leaned out of the way of another hit. This time a straight punch, that was followed by a karate chop.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"I won't let you have me, Mondomezza!" the weird mare shouted at him.

"Who the hell is Mondomezza?!" He had to duck another chop after his exclamation.

He noticed that she was slightly off kilter with each attack. Even as strong as he was, he had no doubt, that Spike would have just a hard time dodging this chick, were he inclined to fight her in this state.

He dodged under a kick, and couldn't keep the blush off his face, when she missed. He quickly got out of her way, as he forced the blue across his face to recede.

'Striped? No, no! Focus! Focus damn you!' He slapped his face, as he focused more on this mare that was trying to knock his head off. What even was a "Mondomezza"?

"I won't let you have my pure maiden's wish!" Her words weren't helping him at this point.

She came at him again, and he got ready to meet her. He'd just put her down easy, and be on his way.

That was his thought, before she tripped.

She'd done her absolute best to corner the dark buzzard nightmare of Ruby Cataul, but it seemed to be too strong.

Derpy always wondered how her black belt would do against the Dark Hand.

So she planned on turning the tides against him, with a secret technique!

Before she tripped.

* * *

She could only imagine what sort of dark trick, the dark being could have pulled, before she found herself meeting hard-!

"Whoa there, I think that you might have had too much to drink." She heard a voice. She felt the back of her uniform vest being pulled as somepony set her back on her, admittedly, wobbly feet.

It sounded young, maybe around her own age, and male.

But that was impossible! She was just fighting Mondo-! Her body froze, as she felt her face burn, as the reality of the situation finally kicked in.

"Derpy Hooves" struck again.

She felt the rest of her face begin to heat up, as she imagined the rumors that would start because of this, on top of the others.

'Oh Celesti-Why is the world spinning?' Was her last thought before she found herself in the world of unconsciousness.

* * *

She didn't know how long she slept, but it mattered little as she felt the feel of curved wood against her back. She opened her eyes slowly, as she sat up from her impromptu sleeping location.

She wasn't sure how she ended up here, last she remembered-

"Oh, so you're finally awake. Gonna be honest, I kind of freaked out, when you just collapsed like that." She heard a voice, and looked to the right of the park bench.

Sitting in meditating position was a pony she'd never seen before.

Bug like exterior, with a ponish shape, blonde mane and dressed in a set of tank top and pants.

She focused on him(?), and couldn't figure out why he was so familiar…

Then the memories of her drunken altercation came to life, as she looked at his two fangs, her mind coming to a halt.

"Uh, you okay-"

"I'm so sorry!" she had interrupted him. She seemed to jump up from the seat in a hurry, enough so that when she was standing on her own two hooves, she nearly collapsed again, only this time she fell to her knees, clutching her noggin.

"Owie…" He threw a concerned look her way, before reaching over and passing her a bag. Accepting the offering, she looked inside to find a bottle of water, some painkillers, a couple of napkins and a, a…

"Muffin?" She looked over to him, and he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you see I also had a headache from a certain drinking escapade. I was gonna have them, but you look like you need it far more than I do." A bold faced lie. He'd sent a clone to one of the nightly deli, and gotten the items.

"I also figured, you might be hungry when you came to, especially since... You, ahem, vomited over in the bushes while, unconscious. Oh man," he stated, only to look at her worryingly, as her coat seemed to shoot down in paleness, as though she had become a sheet of white stone.

Derpy could only feel the shame, embarrassment and guilt all pile on, more and more. Every passing second, she wished the world just decided to suck her in, and never let her see the light of day.

She let her face fall into her hands, as she tried to hide her misfortune, only to feel nothing but fur.

She froze.

* * *

Naruto looked on in more worry, as his fellow park goer went still. He watched as her hands felt around her face, the digits probing her upper right portions before they too froze.

He heard her whisper just barely, as she kept trying and failing to find something.

"Where is? Where is it? Where IS IT?!" She started scrambling about, as she looked around the floor frantically.

He looked at her in confusion, as she searched, before his eyes opened in realization.

"Wait, is this what you were looking for?" She froze once more, before slowly turning to look in his direction.

He retrieved the white patch from his pocket.

She smiled in relief, as she saw it. In his grasp.

Not on her face, to hide th-

 _ **Play ~AnoHana OST - I Left You ~ Not Sure If I Did~**_

He frowned, as she slapped a hand over her left eye, before giving him a teary eyed look.

"Yo-You saw it?" he could hear her ask, but her eye said that she wished for anything but that.

Still, he nodded his head, as she turned her head downward. It didn't take long for him to see her shoulders shake, and he sighed when he heard the sniffles coming from her as well.

He watched as she tried to clear away the tears, a vain attempt as she just kept wiping. He crawled over the small distance between him and her, and settled beside her.

Thinking for a moment, he reached into the bag and pulled out some few napkins, before patting her on the back.

His ministrations seemed to be working, as he heard her slowly, but surely, begin to calm down more. Or at least, enough so, that she wasn't blind to him handing her the napkins, so she could clean her face.

Watching her take the napkins, and clean up, Naruto then offered the eyepatch.

She looked at it, as she dabbed her eyes, before looking over to him.

He simply grinned at her, before thinking better of it, and just smiling as he odded towards the medical ocular blocking instrument.

She reached over, and retrieved it from his palm, before shakily setting it back into place.

At that point they just sat there.

Naruto couldn't really think of what he could do, obviously she was distressed. He was pretty sure, that her eye was part of the problem.

He was about to say something, but she beat him to the punch.

" _*Sniffle*_ T-thank yo-u." He heard a slight hiccup in the middle, but smiled nonetheless.

"Hey! No problem to be had, but obviously something's wrong here." She gave him a weary, slightly confused look.

"W-what?"

"Well I don't know your name! Here we are, two people just sitting here on the floor, after some alcohol stunts, and we don't even know each other's names. Gosh, that's rude of us," he said, with a mock sigh, as he held a hand to his face.

She looked at him for a moment, before she began to giggle, and then laugh.

Naruto merely gave a squinty eyed grin, as he heard her laugh.

'That's a lot better than before,' he thought happily, as she began to calm down her laughter. Finally wiping away a stray tear, she sniffled once more but was in better spirits.

* * *

They found themselves back on the bench a moment later. Naruto merely sat on, looking up, as the grey pegasus indulged herself in the muffin. Watching her finish the baked good, he handed her the water form before, along with a painkiller.

Looking at the offered items, she stared for a moment, before the pain of her hangover brought itself back to the forefront.

"Owie…" she took both the offered items, and quickly downed them. Letting out a sigh, as the pain began to ebb slightly, she looked down at the water bottle in her hand.

The male blond at her side, simply looked straight ahead, as the time ticked on.

"Thank you. I...I didn't really know what to do, when somepony saw me like...like that," her thanks given, he merely waved them off with a smile.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm happy that I was able to help. Especially since it was kinda my fault, anyway. Sorry for tripping you by the way, I wasn't expecting anybody to be out here." She looked at him for a moment, and smiled, her right eye shut, as the white medical patch covered the left.

"Oh it's no problem! I don't even remember falling!" He sweatdropped, that didn't even make him feel any better.

Looking her over, he decided that maybe he could ask, what that was all about, from before.

"So um, Ms…"

"My name's Derpy Hooves, but you can just call me Derpy." She smiled at him, and it allowed him a little more courage to move forward.

"Right, Derpy. So...what are you doing here, in a park, obviously drunk?" His question caused her to narrow her eyes a bit, before she sighed.

"Work was dragging on today. Mostly due to the influx of ponies from the Fashion Week cast," she started. He could only nod, as he remembered the hard time tehy, his group, had had earlier.

"Oh I can totally understand that. Me and my group of friends couldn't find a single place to chow down. At that point, we just decided to order in and watch some movies...I woke up underneath the mattress," he stated, only to have her laugh at the bit near the end.

"Hehehehe! How'd you even get underneath there?" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's hard to remember, but I think we were watching a movie about, ugh, ghosts." Naruto shuddered at the thought of the ectoplasmic entities. It was no wonder why he'd hid underneath the mattress.

Screw celebrity movies, Sapphire Shores was not worth Strange Inquiry 2. Based on a real story, or not, fuck that movie!

"That's silly…" she smiled.

"Besides I'm sure, that ghosts wouldn't be scary." He froze at this, before turning to her.

"How are _you_ so sure. Your Cutie Mark doesn't mean like exorcism or something, right?" He eyed the three bubbles with trepidation, she simply laughed.

"Optimism!" He slumped forward.

"Let's just, NOT, talk about ghosts, please? Besides, you still didn't tell me what caused you to be here, drunk" The question brought down her mood slightly, but she gave a small smile.

"After we were done with our shifts, me, well more like my co-workers, got me to come along to drink out with them. Apparently, lots of bars open up around this time of the season, for obvious reasons." He tossed a confused look her way.

"Wait, then how'd you end up here? Alone?" here she grimaced.

"My co-workers all left me! Their coltfriends came, and picked them up, and I was left alone to walk home." She slumped, put out, as Naruto frowned.

"Sounds like some seriously sucky co-workers., he said out loud, only causing her to slump further forward.

Okay, steer clear of _that_ zone. Seriously, who even _did_ that?

"So what about you? Don't you have somepony looking for you?" Quick to get this train back on track, he prompted her forward.

" _*Sigh*_ , I...don't have a coltfriend. I don't really have the time for one, much less landing one." He snorted, causing her to look at him in confusion.

"Oh come on! I find that hard to believe. I mean look at you, you're adorable!" his words caused her to flush slightly.

His plan of making her feel better was working. Sure maybe he didn't need to add that bit at the end, but it helped.

He never realized just how much of what he just said, was actually his own opinion. He'd spoken what he felt was true, and had no idea, how far down that feeling truly went.

She looked down to the side, face aflame.

"R-really? Yeah, well, a lot of stallions don't exactly stay for long, once they see this." She pointed at her eyepatch, causing the changeling to frown.

"It can't really be THAT bad, can it?" he asked, only to flinch back, as she glared at him.

"Not that bad. Not that bad?! The second I had this, ponies don't even look at me the same way! I had this since day one, and nopony takes me seriously! I'm not the brightest, but Derpy Hooves does her BEST!" she shouted at him, causing him to jump back, before she began to breathe heavily, and then just slump back onto the bench, face pressed into her hands.

He didn't expect that, but he really should know better as he sighed.

"Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be insensitive about your…" once more, his mouth ran him into a wall. He honestly wondered how often his mouth could get him into the bad graces of somebody, with how often it ran without thinking.

She looked at him with a narrowed eye, before sighing.

"...It's a condition I was born with." He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel some sort of familiarity here. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't help but to reach over and, hesitantly, pat her on the back.

"I can't say I know exactly what you've gone through. I have the feeling though, that you did indeed find somepony, and a couple others, to stand by your side." He felt that she did have this. He couldn't help that the familiarity was striking him full force right now, and that those her exact words were the ones that came from his mouth.

She looked to him in shock for a moment, before eyes widen, and she shot up almost immediately.

"What time is it?!" he looked at her, before taking a look at the moon.

"Not a clue." she nearly panicked, but he continued to speak.

"When I came out here, originally, it was maybe close to midnight. It's been at least an hour since then, maybe two even." She looked to him in shock, before she began to frantically move about.

"Oh no, this is wrong, I should be home right now!" She exclaimed, as she began to run down the path, only to groan as she fell to her knees. Naruto was quick to reach her side, and look Derpy over for a moment.

She was holding her head , and look slightly groggy. Thinking for a moment, he pulled out a packet of the painkillers from his pocket, and read over the possible side effects.

'Nausea and sleepiness…fantastic,' he thought, before looking to the pegasus.

"Why's everything, blerg, feeling so weird," she spoke, quickly covering her mouth for a moment as a another sense of vertigo struck.

"It's the painkillers. Some of the side-effects might be kicking in for you." She looked unfocused, but reached a hand out in a random direction, the limb shaking slightly.

"I need to...get home," the cafe worker said, causing Naruto to frown for a moment, before he blinked as he was struck by an idea.

Derpy wasn't feeling all too great, but she had to go home.

'Golden Harvest, Amethyst, dad, Dinky.' Her mind reached out for those she cared about, and yet it felt like if she tried to move, she would be vomiting in a bush again. As her mind tried to deal with the world moving, she found herself being levitated off the ground.

Great, now she was off her bonkers.

"There we go, so which way to your house there Derpy?" She heard Naruto's voice, and looked down to find herself, not levitating, but currently on the back of the buggy teen. She let out a yelp, and flung her arms in every which way, all the while Naruto was trying to keep balance, as she moved about.

"Derpy, stop moving so much! This isn't as easy if you start freaking out!" She had barely enough time to freeze, before she felt her head swirl in on itself again, and flopped against his back.

"..."

"..."

"...You done now?" He felt her nod against his "mane".

"Promise to not freak out anymore?" Another nod.

"Good, now let's go to your house." He saw her arms loop around, before one pointed forward.

And on, he walked.

 _ **~End Song~**_

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Play ~Naruto Morning OST~**_

They moved down the streets, farther from his hotel, then he was expecting.

All along the way, Derpy merely groaned every now and then, as she gave directions.

Naruto wasn't really sure, but he felt like making some small talk.

"Hey Derpy? You not sick enough to talk, or…?" He could feel some form of acknowledgement from her as she mumbled slightly. The orbs pressing against his back, had been a often enough occurrence, during this little trip, that he needed to keep his mind from blanking slightly.

He could only take so much.

"Oh, um, yeah. Is there something, you want to talk about?" She kind of stuttered out of her blank stare ahead.

"A couple actually. For starters, what was all that back there?"

She gave him a sad expression, and he chuckled nervously. He would have usually scratched the back of his head in habit, but currently he was carrying Derpy, which just made him realized he was opened to any form of retaliation from the mare on his back.

Best to pick his words carefully.

"What I mean is, back there, you seemed to have some skill in hand-to-hand combat. So, what's the story?" She actually looked so of surprised by this, but she thought it over.

"Well, my dad...didn't want me to be taken advantage of." Sending a concerned look her way, he allowed her grip on his neck to tighten slightly. He could actually feel a little bit of the muscle on those slightly thin arms of hers.

"I started when I was 7. Back then, other foals would pick on me all the time, especially here in Manehattan. He decided that I should have a way to defend myself." Here she actually started to look a little sheepish.

"My dad's a big fan of karate movies, especially some of them from Chneigha. So, he kind of jumped to martial arts as the first idea." The blond ninja could definitely see that.

"You're definitely good enough, that's for sure. If I were anypony else, I'm sure they'd be in for quite the wallop." Her expression dipped, and the blonde nearly panicked, before it changed to a slightly sad, curious one.

"This wouldn't be the first time I've been caught under the influence." He gave her mock gasp.

" _No~,_ " she actually laughed, as she directed him down a nearby street.

"It's true! It was back when I first tried alcohol...I sort of lost it." she laughed, a sound more resembling bells than he was expecting, but all the better.

"Second question, who, or _what_ , is a "Mondomezza"?" Naruto asked, as she allowed her arms to tighten slightly.

"Oh, right, hehehe." she looked to the side for a moment, as the changeling turned his head in her direction.

"Mondomezza, is magical nightmare devil creature of the city of Ruby Cataul. It's said that to defeat the beast, you must used the ancient kung-fu of Diary Stakes, but I had to improvise!"

He gave her a bemused look, and she blushed in slight embarrassment, ducking into his shoulder.

"It was from a book I read some time ago. My friend, Golden Harvest, usually picks some up for me when she's around." He smirked.

"Sounds like a good book," She smiled, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth.

"Some of the best adventure books come from Counting Pens, the author." He smirked.

"Sounds like my kind of book." He wasn't expecting what came next.

He felt her chest expand slightly against his back, as she let out a yawn. He blushed at the feeling, but looked on ahead at the house she'd told him about. He wondered a few moments, before he could hear light snores.

Looking back, he found Derpy had fallen asleep. She mumbled slightly, before pressing her face further into the crook of his neck and tightening her hold on his neck, causing him to glow a damn near neon blue.

He simply grumbled, as he moved forward, mind doing its best to focus on getting her breasts against his back, out of his mind. Mindlessly, shifting her form on his back, hands on those thighs of her's.

He felt that the burning going across his face wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

 _ **~End Song~**_

He moved up the steps, careful to not jostle his passenger. He lifted his tail to the door, changing it into a scorpion's tail, before using the side of the bulby end, to knock on the wooden entrance.

He didn't have to wait too long, before he was greeted by the sight of a pony. A very familiar looking stallion, with raspberry colored hair.

They stared at one another for a moment, before Rolling Barrel allowed the blond into the home of one Derpy Hooves.

Letting the blond into the house, Naruto moved past into the cozy home.

"I can say, that seeing you again wasn't what I expected."

"I can say the same. I didn't think you were her father."

Moving in, the two were quickly making their way past the living room. He could see a bunch of knick-knacks strung throughout the room. There was a screen for movies, like in their hotel room, though it was on a stand.

A couch, and two chairs decorated the room floor, before they passed the living room as a whole. It seemed to connect to the kitchen, where a hallway designated the line where the two met. As they were walking to it, Naruto could hear the sounds of someone's hoofsteps.

Coming around the corner of one of the four doors he saw down that way. Caramel eyes met his own, and he stared as the pony he met at the bookstore looked at him in shock.

"Golden? I thought you were putting baby bear to bed?" Naruto looked at him, in shock.

"Wait, baby bear?" he asked, before Rolling Barrel nodded.

"Yeah, she's one of my daughters. Golden Harvest here, is a friend of Derpy's and was asked to look after her sisters, while I wasn't here and she was at work. You two know each other?" The changeling nodded his head.

"We met at a bookstore earlier," Naruto explained, with Golden confirming this. Seeing her friend on his back, the mare with the carrot Cutie Mark looked on with a frown.

"How'd you meet Derpy? I never told you her name."

"We met in the park, apparently her co-workers took her out drinking." Here Golden winced, leading the blonde to not have to guess the "why."

"Where were they?"

"She said they went home with their coltfriends." He frowned at this, as did Rolling and Golden, before they became aware of Derpy groaning.

"Uh, huh?" she looked around, her vision blurry, "Naruto, am I home yet?"

"Yes honey, Naruto here brought you all the way here from the park. Come on, we need to get you to bed. That way, you can ease up tomorrow, since you go in early." Easing her off his back, her arms stiffened slightly, before relaxing.

Helping over to Golden, Rolling nodded to her, and watched the ginger lead his daughter off.

Golden was quick to help Derpy ease her way towards her room, but as she did she turned around to smile at the blonde bug teen.

"Thanks Naruto." He smiled, and waved her off, though not before Derpy got her last few words in.

"Bye Naruto...See you later…" Her piece said, she allowed Golden to fully lead her off.

He grinned to himself, as he scratched the back of his head.

Looking back to Rolling Barrel, the stallion was looking at him with a look of focus, before he blinked and grinned.

"Thanks for bringing her home. I always worry about her, and coming home late. Glad to have you helping her out."

"No problem, always willing to help," the ninja stated, only to look at a window, a she saw the beginning bits of sunlight glazing the horizon, even as the moon still lay in the sky.

"It was nice meeting you again, Rolling, but I gotta go." His piece said, he strolled back to the door. Following behind him, Rolling allowed the blond out.

"Thanks again Naruto," he said with a wave, that the blonde changeling reciprocated.

"Right. Later." His bit said, the blond began the trek back. Once he was clear from the house in question, he looked around at the few scattering about ponies, before entering an alleyway.

Hidden from sight, he launched off the walls, before hopping from roof to roof, back to the hotel.

His back felt light, but empty, as he remembered the feeling of a certain gray mare against, causing his cheeks to flush. The phantom warmth filling his thoughts.

Sheesh.

* * *

 _ **Morning, a few hours later...**_

Derpy allowed her mind to drift awake, as the morning light hit her face. She blinked once, or twice from the intruding ray, before yawning as she got up.

She looked over to see her lamp, with her eyepatch lying next to it. Looking down to the side of her bed, she found Dinky. The filly was all curled up in some of the sheets like some sort of cocoon.

She smiled at the sight, before turning to the left finding Golden Harvest sleeping on the floor to her left, in a sleeping bag. The orange hair poking out in all directions was a dead give away that she'd been rolling in it again.

Laughing mentally again, she looked back to her lamp, at the eyepatch. Then she looked up above the lamp, where a certificate, with a black cloth belt nailed underneath it, was hung. Her mind bringing back bits, and pieces, about the night before.

She laid back down for a moment, and allowed herself to curl up to Dinky.

The warmth from her littlest sister was welcome, but for some reason she still frowned. The warmth was always a constant to her. When her mom was still around, and that shifted to when Dinky was introduced into their lives.

So why did she feel as if it was another warmth she missed?

The faded memory of a broader warmth, that wasn't her father's played in her mind, but she lost it.

She did her best to fill that "space" with the warmth of their youngest, mind ever chasing after that memory.

 _ **~TCL~**_

That Wednesday had been more of a conformity day. They'd gone about doing nothing unusual, other than going to the Fashion Show, before heading straight back to the hotel to eat, and watch more movies.

Just no scary ones, for his sake.

The morning hours on Thursday, Naruto's group had been fine to just spread out and do whatever it was that they pleased.

Separating into groups of rare occurrence.

Naruto found himself bereft of a partner that day. Shining had taken Twilight to go see the sights, and Cadance had taken Spike to go to the park.

He felt weird, that for once in a long while, he wasn't the one looking after any of the kids. The very notion of it was strange to him, but he decided to see about making something of himself that day.

He thought long and hard about it, before just slinking into a alleyway and running up onto the roof of a building. Mindful of any wondering pegasi, he roof hopped, form fast enough that in the errant nature of the busybodied city of Manehattan, nopony would notice.

His form covered by a dark blue shirt, with a flame like spiral in the middle of the front and back, as his lower portions were in a pair of bulky blue jeans, that were cuffed at the ends to his shin.

As he moved from rooftop to rooftop, eyes looking around, as they took in the rambunctiousness of Manehatten itself. His eyes slipped every which way, as he set himself out to look for something to do. Anything that caught his interest would be fine at this moment.

Ducking past another pair of roaming police ponies, he jumped once more, before settling on a building that overlooked the main junction of Manehattan's streets.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, he merely allowed his feet to kick back and forth.

'What to do, what to do?' he thought to himself, as he sat there. He thought about maybe going to see a movie, he could probably go for it. Though he thought back to the movie the group had been watching, and shivered.

'Okay, maybe not.'

Looking down into the streets of Manehattan, he eyed a little spectacle going on below, in a nearby park.

"Hello distraction!" he said, as he grinned.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"And you're sure you can do this Mister…?"

"Naruto, and don't worry, I've got this. Ms. Kindheart."

The blond was currently just pulling a large cart, filled to the brim with all kinds of wooden planks, nails, plaster and other forms of building supplies.

He'd seen her having a hard time pulling the stuff, and figured.

What better way to spend the evening of of not knowing what to do, but help someone out?

Though he seriously had to roll his eyes at some of the Manehattanites. Seriously, like none of them were really willing to just help out for a bit?

"We're coming up on the spot I reserved. Once there, we'll coordinate with some of the contracted builders," the butter colored earth pony mare stated, as she fixed her red glasses, a stray blue curl coming out of place from her mane in front of them.

Seeing the fur coated, purple jacketed pony flicking another stray strand back into place, he snickered, to which she smiled good-naturedly.

Making it to the area, they found a group of ponies, as she stated.

Some of them were adults, as would be expected for the most part, but he saw a few teens, ranging from his age, to probably a little younger.

Then he saw a few of the kids, who couldn't be any older than Twilight herself.

When the two of them came up, he knew all their eyes were on him, but he paid it no mind. Easily pulling the cart over to a corner, while Charity Kindheart went about divvying up the work to her volunteers.

As he turned around, he was met with the stare of a small filly.

"..."

"..."

The currently staring filly, bore a light blue bob-cut mare and tail, with a white hat. On her bottoms was a sort of sailor fuku, with a purple collar and a red ascot.

"Oh! Ms. Kindheart said that I'm in charge of painting again, mister."

Light blue eyes watched his with a cautious glance, before he nodded took out a couple pails of the paint in the cart.

Setting them down, about 5 in total, both changeling and earth pony filly looked at them for a moment. Naruto simply smiled, scratching the back of his head, before reaching back in the cart.

Coco Pommel found herself in the possession of a bucket of paint brushes, before she looked up at the blonde bug teen. Said ninja,was currently carrying all the paint cans. Two in each arm, and the fifth one held by his wire like tail.

"So, where to? Little lady," he asked, causing coco to release a small, feeble smile, before she lead the way to the other set of kids.

* * *

 _ **3 Hours Later…**_

Getting up from his crouch on the wall, he flipped over the heads of the children, before landing on the ground. Hearing the little cheers of them all, did his heart some good, as he surveyed their work.

It had taken some time, but they finished painting the wall. Each of them, adding their own little flare to it, as the backdrop for stage was set.

Nodding to a couple of stallions coming over, to move the large flat piece of drawing board, Naruto looked down at the smock he was wearing.

"I'm a good ol' art project myself." he was thankful that he'd removed his shirt for this. Even witht he smock, his arms weren't saved from some stray paint.

"Mr. Uzumaki, we finished doing the bushes. I think the others finally finished the clouds and sun."

Looking over to Coco, who was sporting her own smock, and "scars" of hard work, he snickered at the set of smudges on her cheeks, before giving her a thumbs up.

Seeing the smile he received in return, he did the same.

Small victories.

"Alright everypony! Thank you for your hard work today, and I'll be sure to call you back for the end of the week performance! Enjoy some of the refreshments on the way out!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

He hummed as he traveled down the street, idly aware of some of the stares he got. A paint stained bugpony coming down the street, was NOT an everyday occurrence in Manehattan it seemed.

He looked up at the sky for a moment, before thinking about what else he could do today. Charity Kindheart had offered him to come back the next time she was in the need of workers, as well as to enjoy the show when he could. Nice mare, that pony, but he wouldn't be able to enjoy the show, since he wouldn't be here in the coming week.

He walked by a store, and stopped to stare at the stuff inside, before walking off.

Coming out of the intersections of Manehatten's main streets, he was surprised to find himself across the street from a school. He looked at the structure of higher learning, before shuddering, and continuing to walk off.

He could hear a ringing as the school began to let out fillies and colts of about just above twilight's age, and below. Keeping it out of his mind, he found himself moving on, even as he heard the multitude of children scattering to and from the establishment.

Strange, he couldn't help but notice that there were a pair of steps making their way to his back.

"H-hey...Y-you're that b-b-bug guy from two days ago, y-yeah?"

Hearing the stuttering, he turned around to find none other than Amethyst Star. The filly was giving him a nervous stare, even as he saw a couple kids hiding around the corner, staring at him. He blinked once, before nodding his head.

"Uh, yeah? Naruto's the name, what can I do ya for?" he asked, only to see her shake her head in the negative, causing him to blink again.

"N-no reason! J-just, i recognized you is a-all," she stuttered out, before looking back at the kids hiding, and flinching her head in his direction.

Seeing them all come out of the corner, he stared at the colorful ponies, and once more couldn't help wonder how their color palette even _worked_.

Shaking his own head at the thought, he continued back to trekking along the way to...wherever.

Each moment, he could hear the whispering of the barely teen to pre-teen group of kids behind him. All the while, he noticed just how this looked to the outside world, as some mares and stallions began to scrutinize the group.

He sighed, before turning back to Amethyst, the filly freezing, only giving him more trouble than it was worth.

He was NOT a paedophile!

"So is there any reason, you're following me, or…?" he used hand motions to suggest that she provide him with some form of idea on what the hell was going on here.

She gave him a confused look, nervous as it was.

"We're not following you, my home just happens to be in this direction." she explained, which only caused him to look at the group behind her, with a raised eyebrow.

"Am I to assume you all live in the same house or something?" he asked, as he tapped his chin. Causing a couple of the foals to shake their heads, while a few did.

"Um no….sir."

"Not really, we have a project!"

"I'm living with my aunt."

A wide array of responses came about, to which he just shrugged his shoulders, before turning back around.

"Um, N-naruto, sir! What are _you_ doing here, if you don't mind me asking?" he heard the pink filly's question, before just shrugging once more.

"...I'm honestly walking around, just looking for something to do. Me and a couple of friends of mine separated, and I'm trying to amuse myself." He could hear some more gasps from the kids, as their hoofsteps surprisingly, came closer.

"There's more of him?"

"Maybe they work like ants? Is there a queen?" a rather nerdy looking kid asked, which only caused them to, ironically, buzz more with questions and the like.

"Okay, one, I'm sure there aren't more of…" Amethyst started, before turning to him with a questioning look.

"Changeling, and no I've never met somepony like me before, if you're wondering." She nodded her thanks.

"Changeling, see? Besides, I'm sure that what you guys said was more than a little rude," the unicorn sister of Derpy admonished the other kids. They looked to him in question, and Naruto just tilted his hand in motion, the palm facing to the ground.

"A bit, then again I'm working on what I'd find slightly offensive."

"Sorry~," came multiple children's apologies, causing Amethyst to nod her head. Turning back, she found the blond smiling at her.

"You're a lot more like your sister than you let on." His words caused her to scratch her Cutie Mark having hand a little.

"My sis taught me there's never a reason to be rude, even if you don't know that you are," the school student stated, causing Naruto to simply smirk.

"I seriously need to meet this sister of yours. Both you and Dinky seem to love her very much, and she teaches you guys the right things." she grinned at this, as they continued to walk, before Naruto looked around strangely.

'Wait a minute.' he thought, as he looked around. Didn't this place look familiar?

"We're here!" one of the foals announced, as the kids began to separate. Each one going into different sides of the large home, now that Naruto could focus on it. He saw doors and staircases coming from the sides of the building.

"So it's like an apartment?" he wondered out loud.

"Yeah, a few of the kids that go to school live in the same place as us. It's a multiple occupancy home, or at least, that's what dad calls it." the pink filly unicorn student explained, as she and the rest of her group met up in front of the main entrance.

"You kids be good, okay?" the blonde teen questioned, getting a sound off, but before he could leave he heard Amethyst's voice again.

"Thanks again for the walk home sir!" This made the changeling's eyes widen, as he realized, that that was, in fact, what had happened.

"It was nice meeting you- sis? You're leaving now?" He heard this and turned around, hearing some slight muffled words passed through from the inner home. Looking back at the house, he was getting some serious deja vu, right before a VERY familiar looking pegasus in uniform came walking out of it.

Including with an eyepatch.

"Yeah, having yesterday off really helped things along, plus I got to play with Din-?!" She was looking done, as she brushed off a crease in her skirt, talking to Amethyst. Right as she was finished, she looked up and locked eyes with the changeling teen.

He blinked.

She blinked.

They both blinked.

"Derpy?!/Mondo-Naruto?!" Amethyst looked between the pegasus mare, and the bug teen, in confusion.

"You two know each other?"

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto could only snicker as they walked down the street, even as Derpy flushed in embarrassment.

She let out a pitiful sound, as he pat her back.

"Can't you just let it go?" she asked pleadingly, as he smirked.

"Nope! Mondo-Naruto will forever be burned into my mind," he stated with a thumbs up, as she slumped.

They stopped at a crosswalk, before walking as the light turned green. The bodies of the other Manehattanites pushing against them. Derpy wasn't sure how to take the fact that she was eerily close to Naruto, as she lead the way doing her best to keep focused on the task at hand. Naruto was the same, even if he was more puzzled by the fact that ponies seemed to just write him off.

It was kind of what he was use to, back in Konoha pre-Nagato, but it was strange seeing it done in just normal fashion. He guessed the novelty of the bug guy in Manehattan had siphoned off in some places.

Good to know.

As they moved closer to the location, Naruto saw that it was a very familiar looking cafe. That said, both changeling and eyepatch wearing pegasus were surprised to see the pony standing outside the eatery.

"Boss?" Derpy could see the stress lines now framing the pony's face, as they got closer. Naruto could see that this pony did indeed, have a tag with the word manager on it, as well as a slightly more spruced up uniform of Derpy's.

"Derpy? Oh thank Celestia, you came!" He was crying tears of joy, as he saw her coming, fist pumped.

The duo looked to one another, before Naruto popped the question.

"Yo boss dude, what do you mean by that? You make it sound like you were expecting less." Naruto asked, only to have to jump back too late, as the stallion began to shake him.

"Of course I was! I'm down three employees right now!" he exclaimed, before releasing the ninja, who was shaking away the stars, and falling to his knees.

"All three of my employees called out sick! Two of them have a cold, and the third is now on maternity leave! I was lucky Derpy is here, plus I could only call in one other from their day off!" He was in hysterics, as he rocked back and forth on the sidewalk.

Naruto looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before leaning over to Derpy.

"Uh...Maybe it's just me, but doesn't he seem like he's overreacting?" Derpy simply shook her head with a tired expression,

"Normally I'd say yes, we can easily handle having a few less employees at times, but...Fashion Week." He then understood.

The week was bringing in more customers. He could only imagine how filled this place would get in a few minutes.

"Couldn't any of the others stay for overtime?" the eyepatch wearing pony asked her boss, as she helped him up to his hooves.

"I tried! But Limited Post is visiting family after her shift! Stain Coat can't stay in for too long, or he'll get claustrophobia, and Lavender…!"

"Is strict on when she's here, and not, yeah I know." She sighed. "And today was going so well, too."

Seeing the duo of slumped ponies, Naruto knew what he had to do.

Looks like he knew where he'd be spending his day.

* * *

Looking down at his borrowed uniform, the blond couldn't help but pull a little at the collar, before looking down at the badge which was labeled "Minimum Coat".

Pony names were so weird, he swore.

"Okay, Naruto, what you need to do is simply look at this chart and serve customers at those tables. On occasion, we'll have you in the back doing food prep." Feeling the boss pat his back with a tearful thumbs up, made the ninja sweatdrop at the cheerful expression.

Looking over the display of plastic, which showed the number of tables and the corresponding number for each one, he did his best to try and memorize his route.

Hearing soft hoofsteps behind him, he looked at Derpy Hooves.

"Thanks again, for helping out. I hope we're not bothering you, we really need the help," she said with a weak smile, to which he tossed a bright one her way.

"It's okay, I've always wanted to wear a suit," he joked, to which she laughed. Giving his back a pat, she soon began to put on her cooking apron.

"I'm on kitchen duty until mid-evening hits, at which point I'll be helping you serve tables," she stated, making him nod.

Time to get his game face on.

"Let's do this."

* * *

"We'll have the family special Walnut Cake, and a large jug of lemonade, please!"

"Waiter! A bottle of your finest wine, and some Cheese Raggoo!"

"Can I get, um, well. Wait, how about-No~ what do you suggest?"

All afternoon and evening with these ponies, as he saw to another table's order, he rushed to and fro, doing his best to take orders.

"I'll have it right on the way ma'am, just a moment."

"Sir, I hope you're aware that the "finest" wine we have is red grape, are you okay with that?"

"What do I suggest? Uh….Are you allergic to wheat or soy by any chance?"

He quickly made his way back into the kitchen, as he plucked another set of orders off the waiting counter. Slipping off, a couple of orders, he dashed back out to the waiting tables.

"Gah! I'll get the wine, give me a moment!"

He ran back to the kitchen.

"Where's the wine?!" he exclaimed, nearly causing Derpy to jump, but she used one of her hooves to point in the direction of a large white contraption.

Zooming over to it, he opened it up, and stared.

"It's ALL red Grape?!"

The afternoon moved onto evening and as it did, he was becoming more and more stressed thin. Even now, he could see the crowd gathering outside, and at this moment, even the boss was going to and from tables.

"Yes ma'am, it's all red wine- No we don't carry white, there was a shipping malfunction."

"Sir, sir, please, eat with your mouth closed, you're disturbing the-!"

"It's okay gentlestallions, I'll bring about your meals shortly. Stain!"

Even now, he could see the beads of sweat coming down one of the stallion's eye sockets, as he moved with practiced grace. The blond teen was currently trying and failing to keep track of Derpy, as she moved about.

She was having the hardest time, as it was, as she was slightly tripping over invisible things, and doing her utmost to stay upright. At this point, the blond was trying his hardest, to not just abuse the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** , and make himself out to be _too_ out of the ordinary.

That kind of went out the window, when he saw the large moving crowd of ponies from the Fashion show, start roaming the streets, and entering ALL the eating places.

He sat there, with both Derpy and the boss, as they stared at the oncoming crowd of ponies.

" **We're doomed!** " came their trio of voices, before the blonde just decided it wasn't worth the risk, if he didn't use his technique.

* * *

Cadance could only stare, as she, Spike, Shining, and Twilight went looking for their blonde friend. They'd searched high and low, until Twilight had suggested using a Seeking spell, and it lead them back to the Manehattan Moxy Pot.

They weren't expecting what they saw though.

"Hehehe...hey guys~" The changeling grinned, as he sat in a Moxy Pot uniform, a large dark green blazer over his shoulders, as he used a hand to tilt down a pair of sunglasses.

Spike looked at Naruto, as if the blonde had done the most amazing thing of all time, Twilight and Shining were dumbfounded and Cadance, was looking at the blonde with a calculative look. She caught sight of the blonde's many clones currently running inside the establishment, taking orders, moving plates, etc, etc.

Coming to a stop, on their blonde friend currently playing bouncer, he sprouted a clone, before popping it. A moment later, there was a movement from the cafe railing for the outside portion, before another Naruto jumped out to greet them.

"Yo guys! What's up?" he said cheerily, as if there wasn't copy of him next to him, letting in ponies at a timed leisure.

They had too many at that moment.

* * *

They sat there at the table on the outside area, and looked at their blonde friend, as he leaned back against the railing.

All around them, ponies were being waited on by copies of the changeling, while others were clearing tables. They could also see the owner of the establishment, crying tears of righteousness as he helped to bring out more wine and drinks.

"Naruto, seriously, what the hay is all this?" Shining got the conversation started, as they all watched another pony couple get lead out, by a blond clone, though not before they tipped the bug pony boy.

The blonde scratched his face, before explaining how the owner had asked him to help out, since things had gone a little south, due to Fashion Week.

He was explaining this to them, as a mare came up to the blonde's friends' table with a tray held in both hands. She was making good time, before she began to wobble a bit.

Right as she was about to keel over, Naruto was already stabilizing her, before anyone knew.

"Come on Derpy, no need to rush over. I've already got most of the tables set, so you can take it easy." She gave an appreciative, close-eyed smile, before more slowly coming over to set the group's food at the table.

Checking to see if they needed anything else, she was off. The blonde following her with his eyes for a moment, turned back to the table, and flinched.

He could see Twilight and Spike looking at their food, before digging in, but Shining's smirk and Cadance's huge grin were all he knew he'd need for a rough night.

"So~?" Cadance's sing-song question was only the beginning.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The changeling was doing his best to pat the stallion on the back, as he looked to the others with a betrayed expression. His own group simply looked elsewhere, some had the gaul to whistle innocently! The _traitors_.

Derpy was giving him a carefree smile, as if nothing was wrong in the world, which only caused him to groan.

She was lucky, she was cute.

...Wait.

Before he could delve further into _that_ thought, the boss left him to his friends. Right as he did though, the group of six were interrupted by the arrival of a trio.

"Sister!/Sis!/Baby girl!"

In came the trio of Amethyst Star, Dinky Doo and Rolling Barrel, who looked on in confusion as they saw the familiar group. More surprisingly was when they saw Naruto dressed up, the same as Derpy.

"You guys?" Derpy was surprised to see them all there, since she'd usually just walk home by herself afterwards.

The groups interacted some, as they mulled about the front of the eating place.

"I didn't think you'd end up working here, what happened?" Rolling asked, to which his daughter gave a brief explanation to the events leading up to the current situation.

"Naruto I didn't know you worked here? At least you never said it earlier," Amethyst stated, to which the blonde just scratched the back of his noggin.

"It's not like I planned for this to happen. Besides, I was just helping out, no more, no less." he replied, though she looked unconvinced.

"See, I told she'd have no problem with you!" Dinky exclaimed as she and Spike came up to his side, the drake was giving him a thumbs up, which only caused Naruto to sweatdrop.

"Naruto, sometimes you make me wonder what you actually got up to, all day on your own." The blonde let out a waterfall of tears.

It wasn't his fault! Stuff like this, just seemed to happen! Damn his luck!

"He's been a big help though! We'd never have gotten things under control, if he wasn't here, please don't be mad." In came Derpy with the save.

"Oh we're sure, Naruto's in no _trouble_ at all. I'm sorry, we've never met, I'm Cadance." the hidden alicorn, smiled a hungry smile, as she switched her gaze from Naruto to the eyepatch wearing mare. The mare in uniform, being none the wiser, simply accepted the greetings with her own.

"Hiya! I'm Derpy Hooves, nice to meet you!" She gave a closed-eyed smile, ever ignorant to the thoughts probably running around in the pink mare's head. Twilight merely spoke to Derpy's sister in the background, throwing the pink unicorn for a loop with all her talk of magic.

"Oh that's a nice name, so how'd you and my friend here meet, hmm?"

That was his queue to speed this up, before Cadance did something irreversible.

"Oh would you look at the time, we should be going, don't you think?!" He stated quickly, causing Rolling barrel to pull out and check his pocketwatch.

"You know what? He's right. Come on girls, we have to get home, before baby girl is too tired to be up in the morning," the elder, tan colored stallion stated, as he ran a hand through the mane of his youngest, causing the filly to smile.

Cadance pouted at this, as Shining assuaged her. Naruto was just happy to have called it, before Cadance could try and instigate something.

"It's most efficient to have at least 6 hours of sleep, while 8 hours is the most recommended for optimal working status in the mornings." Twilight spouted, causing the blonde pegasus to look down at her with her one visible eye, before she just nodded absently. Naruto took mercy on the worker, and gently pushed her to her family.

Right as he was though the manager had come out with a pair of jars, filled with bits. One seemed to be filled to the brim, while the other was a third of the way there.

Looking around, his eyes lit up, as he found his two employees.

"Derpy, Naruto! I'm so glad I could find you! Here!" He shoved the jars in each of the hands, Naruto's being the fuller one. "You guys forgot your tips! G'night!"

They watched as the stallion went back inside the eatery, and heard the door lock. Looking down into their arms, they looked back to one another, before Derpy smiled. Jostling her jar, she couldn't help but look at Naruto's in mock envy.

"You're so lucky! I wish I could make copies of myself! Then I could get so much done! Get more tips, some school work and more muffins!" She actually began to drool a little bit at the last one, causing him to snicker slightly, before he look down at his jar.

The next moment, found Derpy holding onto a heavier jar than her own. She looked down at the jar filled to the brim with bits, before looking over to Naruto holding her jar. She blinked once in confusion, before the blonde simply grinned, before walking over to Rolling barrel and putting the other one in Rolling's arms, though not before taking a few out.

All said and done, most were looking wide eyed at the sunny haired blonde, while trying to figure out what was going on.

Flipping a bit, he simply walked on over to his own group, with a comment.

"Come on guys, I'm tired, and want to get some sleep. Spike the next two days are going to be full of ice cream!" Spike and Twilight followed in excitement and confusion, respectively. Shining and Cadance looked on for a moment, before the unicorn grinned a boyish grin and walked after them, with a mutter.

"Way to steal the show man. Just know, Cadance is just going to make this a prime example."

Cadance stood there for a moment, before she had the biggest grin know to equine kind.

'Oh ho, ho! The development is nigh!'

She waved back at the family, before running after her group.

Naruto made one last comment, before he left. Turning back to grin at them.

"Don't spend it all in one place! Later!" With a wave he disappeared from their sights, with the unicorn and hidden alicorn couple, disappearing after him.

Rolling looked down at the jar for a moment, before he chuckled and looked at his eldest. Seeing the dazed look in her eyes, and slightly flushed cheeks, he just grinned discretely.

"Come on along baby girl, no need to keep looking at your prince charming. Time to put these into your fund, no?" He said with a sly smile, causing Derpy to jump up with a horrible blush.

"I-it's not what you think! Don't make jokes like that!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

"So Naruto~"

"Cadance, don't do this."

"But it was so cute!"

"Don't make it weird please! I already knew she was cute! Wait! I mean-"

"Ah ha!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

That Friday had been spent, relatively, normally. No giant mishaps with a buggy blonde, weird interventions by the gods above to make the blonde suffer, and no cute ditzy mares to distract him….sadly.

As far as that day went, the only thing of true relevance that happened was Twilight needing to go and send a letter to Celestia, via Spike, while Naruto and the duo of children went to go get ice cream.

They'd gone to the Fashion show for a bit, but decided to only stay half as long.

The rest of the day was spent in an arcade, where Shining decided that he'd own the blonde in the medium of video combat. Naruto had thought it would be easy. It's not like he was unused to fighting, just apply it to the games, right?

He was defeated ten times by Shining, and once by Spike, much to the young dragon's pride. Twilight he found out, was just as inept at games as he was, so he wasn't alone in that regard.

Yet, Cadance had apparently sucked at every game they came across, save for DDR.

Now Naruto wasn't really a dancer. He'd take being a guy who'd rock out with music, if he had to, but he was pretty sure that Cadance had flat out _destroyed_ any able bodied race in the damn ARCADE!

His day ended on that note, once they had to run away from the arcade.

Due to Cady's new _cult_.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Saturday**_

That last day, they'd decided to forgo all notion of even going to the show, and chose to have a big day at the park.

He could feel the breeze of the park air, as he sat with his back to the tree. The feel of the blanket underneath him was okay, even if he enjoyed the grass more. Currently the form of Twilight was laying down on the blanket, chewing on a daisy sandwich, while she looked at one of her newly purchased books.

Every other moment, he could hear her muttering things like, "Interesting," "Moondancer can use this" and "Trixie better actually be studying." He was happy to know that she had kept to actually interacting with others, though he was pretty sure that more likely than not, it was because of Trixie's more outgoing nature.

That and the azure filly's habit of trying to one-up Twilight. Combine that, with her ability of being able to get under her skin, and Twilight couldn't ignore her. With Trixie being her abrasive friend, Moondancer was company she seeked to help even her out, since they were similar in nature.

Spike finished off their little quartet, as the voice of reason alongside Moondancer, as well as the small bit of snark the drake had been developing as of late.

Naruto and Shining would forever blame that development on the drake's new reading spree into things other than comic books.

What was it? Destiny/Stuck Daylight? Or something like that.

He'd even heard that the group was growing, due to the addition of three other fillies from the school. Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts, if he was remembering right.

Good for the lavender filly.

Looking over at the spread, he picked up a sub filled with fake meat and brought it to his jaw, enjoying it immensely. He'd come to have a good taste for the stuff now, such that he knew Canterlot had the best fake meat, with places like Trottingham having the most gamey, while Manehattan's was more flavorful, and spicy.

He could hear Spike chuckling in the curl of his, once more, draconic looking tail again. Looking to his right, the drake was reading through a comic book. The drake was laying on the blonde's curled up tail like it was a bean bag, though the drake just seemed to have a preference to the blonde's tail for reasons that they attributed to his draconic heritage.

Looking back over to his front, he looked around and saw that Cadence and Shining were currently still walking around the park, holding hands as they walked and talked.

He was perfectly willing to let this stay as the way their day would end, but the universe had other plans.

"Naruto?" he heard the familiar voice of a certain pegasus mare.

Looking down the pathway from the entrance into the park, he could see Derpy, holding the hand of Dinky as they moved the way down.

Seeing the duo coming his way, he used his left hand, which didn't have a sandwich in it, to wave them over.

Dinky was quick to catch Spike's attention, as the filly grabbed his hand and lead him off.

"Wait Dinky, my comic!"

"Come on Spike, let's go on the slide!"

Twilight seeing the two run off, let out a sigh, before getting up.

"I'll keep an eye on them." With that she was gone, though her book was still in hand as she went after the two children, leaving the teen teens alone.

Looking around nervously, for reasons they both didn't understand, the blonde changeling scratched his head and seemingly looked everywhere but at Derpy, while the pegasus was shuffling in place, and repeatedly straightening out the crease in her jacket.

Catching onto the movement, he actually took in the form of Derpy, as she fidgeted in place. Her hair was kept in its usual style, as was the white medical eyepatch she had in place.

That in itself, wasn't weird or different, it was fine as it was. It was her clothes, that had changed.

Naruto was used to seeing her in just her uniform. Whenever they interacted, that is all of the two times they'd met, she was always in uniform and that was kind of his memory of her.

Now? She was wearing a red, light, short-sleeved jacket, over a white spaghetti string top, that cut off just a bit above her belly button. On her bottom half, she wore a pair of dark pants, that came to her shins.

Needless to say, the blond found his tongue tied at how _good_ she looked outside of uniform. Which only made him focus back on how good, now that he thought about it, she looked _in_ uniform.

'Stri-No! Focus brain! Don't fail me right now!'

"Uh, um, want to sit down?" he flubbed out, causing her to look at him for a moment, before she nodded.

Mindlessly patting the area next to him, as he moved over a bit. Once she was seated, he looked at the spread around them, before offering something.

"So, you want something, or maybe something to drink? Or maybe you ate already?"

Why was he tripping up, all of a sudden?!

She shook her head in the negative for a moment, before thinking of it.

"Oh, well, my dad and Amethyst are gonna be here soon. We were planning on spending this day together, since it's my other day off," she said, pushing a flick of her hair behind her ear.

Neither of the two of them noticed a certain pair of an alicorn and unicorn hiding in the bushes some distance away. Neither did they notice the sets of eyes popping out of the bushes to watch them.

"Really? Huh, small world." he said, as they looked out into the park. Naruto could see far over into the distance, as he looked past the top of the trees to the large building with the awfully realistic look horse head on it.

Huh, well what do you know.

They stayed silent as they sat there, minds trying to spark up some kind of conversation.

"..."

"..."

"...So Mondomezza?" he started, causing her to pout at him, even as he smirked slyly.

"No, no, I don't mean 'Mondo-Naruto,' snrk." He laughed. "I mean, I never did get any real recommendations of adventure books. I'm definitely looking forward to some, once I leave later today." She froze at this, causing him to look at her with a confused frown.

"...Derpy?"

"...You're leaving?" She turned to him with a sad frown, that caused his heart to lurch slightly, causing him to look away.

"Yeah. I don't actually live in Manehattan, I'm actually from Canterlot." This caused her eye to widen. He nodded his head at this reaction.

"You're from Canterlot? That's like the best place to live, in all of Equestria!" she said, causing him to laugh.

"Not even close! It may be nice, but most of the ponies there _suck_. A lot of them seem to have poles shoved right where the sun don't shine, and aren't even fun to be around. There's this one pony, Blueblood, whose royalty and I swear to all that is sweet and noodle shaped that that pony is more interested with his reflection in the floor than anybody he talks to."

She laughed at this, and he smiled as she did. She had a good laugh, a sad smile wasn't suited for a cute mare...whatever, not like it wasn't true.

Her laughter died down, as she felt her mood fall again.

He was leaving. Well he didn't live here, so it made sense, but it bothered her more than she wanted to admit. Why though?

Shaking her head, she spoke up.

"Well Mr. Canterlot, the best adventure books are by Counting Pens, Neutral Story and Right Prose. They make some of the greatest books known to ponykind. I'd recommend Daring Do, but I don't really like her stories, I'm not much for stories that revolve around so many temples." So to keep her mind off things, she talked, and he listened.

They went back and forth about what they liked in stories, characters and the like.

So into their conversation, they never saw Derpy's father coming up with her sister, the stallion carrying a basket. Neither noticed, when a bush seemed to jump in shock, before glowing and engulfing the duo of father and daughter either.

When they came off the topic of books, they simply laid back, and looked at the afternoon sun.

"So you're going to leave today?" he simply nodded.

"I'm part of the Royal Guard trainees, I was just off this week, and got carried into going to this fashion schtick. Luckily, we didn't even go to most of the Fashion Week line up." She blinked again.

"Royal Guard?" He nodded, causing her to blink again before her eyes twisted.

"Yeah, I joined them a year ago, and well, things have been pretty good. We're going to be going into a few more training sessions in the following months, before we start moving about the continent, for like, guarding assignments." She let out a small sound of sadness.

"So you're never coming back?" This caught both of them by surprise, both of them not expecting that question. Naruto, because her asking it made him feel a way, and Derpy because she didn't _want_ to voice the question, for some reason.

More likely because of the answer that would be attached.

The blonde male of the two mulled over the answer to that question, for a bit.

"Not for a while no. I won't be off until a good bit from now. Three months at a minimum, and that's not even considering how long it takes to get here, and come back to Canterlot. Not all my off times will be even in Canterlot. So I'm being generous saying three months." she deflated at the response, even though she was expecting it-

"-But that doesn't mean I won't try," he finished, giving her shoulder a bump with his own. She blinked at him for a moment, before tilting her head.

He smiled at her, before pulling out a piece of paper from a stray notebook, with a drawing of a black and yellow moose-bug, and using a stray pen to write something down in it.

"Here, while we're not near each other, no one says you can't mail each other. If you ever just feel like talking, write it down, and I'll be sure to read and write back." He handed her the paper, and she looked at it with a loopy smile.

Taking another look at the paper, she tore off half the page, and borrowed the pen and reciprocated. He took it with a blink, before looking over at her.

"You can do the same! Whenever you want to talk, I'll be sure to listen," she said, with a wide smile, which he reciprocated with a grin.

They looked at one another and blinked, seemingly drawn closer. Gold eyes to sapphire blue.

Neither aware of the quartet in the bushes, who held their breaths. Cadance was beside herself with joy, Shining was chewing his fingernails, Rolling was chugging a beer and Amethyst just watched the interaction with a close eye.

Call it her third sense, but she had a feeling that something was gonna pop up, right about...Now.

"Derpy!" A call of a familiar, unfamiliar voice, snapped the blonde and his compatriot from their staring contest, to look to see Golden Harvest running up to them.

"I'm so glad I made it! Your dad invited me, and I couldn- why are your faces so red and blue?" the ginger started, before interrupting her explanation with a question.

The two blonde teens merely looked away from one another, Naruto with a hand to his burning head, while Derpy simply gave look to the blanket in confusion.

'What was about to happen?' Came the thoughts of two horribly embarrassed teenagers.

Cadance lost it.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

That night, two groups were putting themselves to sleep. One on a train, and the other in a home.

Yet, of both those groups, a blonde was currently smiling as they held onto a piece of paper.

A paper that represented a connection between them.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 **Oh Sweet mercy, this took too LONG to WRITE!**

 **Next chapter:**

 **-Expect more involvement with the Royal Guard Corps, and we can also finally finish up this romance, before getting to the finale in the fifth chapter!**

 **-Naruto finally gets to interact with another changeling, who's going to create a path for this story I WON'T be taking, because this thing is NOT supposed to take that long.**

 **-Fun times.**

 **I could easily make this into two chapters alone, since it almost THIRTY THOUSAND WORDS, with the omake included.**

 **Oh my God.**

 **If anyone is trying to find out how I view the characters as draw in my written stories, look up ss2sonic for my anthropomorphic needs, and for any human ones look up uotapo. These two are some awesome artists, though ss2sonic kind of overemphasizes the female form, scale them down a bit, and that's how I like viewing my characters in these stories and others.**

 **So if you're ever wondering what this would look like in animation, use those two for bases.**

 **You will NOT be disappointed.**

 **Not gonna put too much here, just know that I wanted this done by this past Saturday, and it got bloated beyond words.**


	4. Exchange

**Back into the fray, once again, and we're shaping things up to hit the final chapter, in chapter 5.**

 **Now knowing myself, by this point, I'm almost 80% sure that chapter 5 is going to be hella big. No if's, and's or but's, it's a given considering how things have been so far.**

 **I may very well beat out my first story's word limit, but we'll see after this chapter.**

 **Also, as you guys know, I've posted a new story, but it's not really a "Story". It's an anthropology of omakes, that I'll probably update every time I do a chapter update for a story (guaranteed), or when I'm just in the mood.**

 **So yeah, that'll be fun.**

 **Onto this chapter, we're going to learn a LOT of things. And I mean A LOT. Some of it will be subtle, some of it will not, and otherwise you'll just have to find out yourselves.**

 **The romance hits its climax this chapter, as well. There's going to be a lot of juggling for me, and Naruto, once it gets more intimate, in a way.**

 **Well then, now that that is over with…**

 **Roll the episode! I mean, chapter!**

 _ **~TCL~**_

How? How had this happened?

It was supposed to be a normal scavenging mission. Nothing big. There wasn't _supposed_ to be anything of a threat here.

It had been him, and his hive-squad. Five members, with one newbie in their midst.

So when they heard the newbie's scream, they'd rushed to his location. They were in a cave, but it was supposed to be relatively safe. Scouting missions had been done here before, so they felt justified in their own horrified screams, when they found a skeleton.

A _pony_ skeleton. Which meant that they weren't the only ones here.

The roar that echoed throughout the cavern left them with little choice, but to run.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _Hi it's Derpy again!_

 _Wait, isn't there supposed to be something that goes here? Oh yeah! :} "Dear Naruto", hehe._

 _Wait, does that count? Naruto does it count? Well I mean, I won't get your response until later, but you'll tell me if it counts right? Of course you will!_

 _Last time you had Spike send a letter, he also added in a coupon for ice cream and muffins!_

 _Thank you, thank you, thank you!_

 _Wasn't I supposed to- Oh right, the letter!_

 _Everything is going fine here in Manehattan! Everything's been nice and quiet, and the Moxy Pot is going strong! We're so much bigger now, and the boss even hired more staff. He misses you, ya know. His "buggy gold pot at the end of the rainbow." I think he's still happy about the time you helped get this place back to working order last year. Hiring that many workers would of have been a nightmare, but then you came in and he was so happy to save money!_

 _I even got a raise!_

 _Dinky's doing well. She misses you, and Spike. I think she's got a crush on your little brother! It's so cute!_

 _I mean she's now six, but isn't Spike eight? Nine? Eight and half a muffin?_

 _Now I'm hungry. X 3_

 _Thinking about it, I wonder when this will reach you. Golden Harvest recently started going to trade school. She's planning on opening up a Carrot Juice business, and I can say that the product is GOOD!_

 _Dad's been feeling a little under the weather as of late, so I'm probably going to take a few days off to look after him. The boss doesn't seem to mind, so I'll probably do so if his condition gets worse._

 _I'm hoping for the best._

 _Well, sorry for leaving off on a sad note, but I hope you're doing well. I know that you might be busy, so I won't take too much time._

 _I wish you the best._

 _Sincerely Derpy_

* * *

Finishing off the letter, Shining could only chuckle slightly.

"I don't think she gets that you're not supposed to put ALL your thoughts on the paper," he stated to his blonde companion, as the changeling in question finished his last set of push-ups. The blonde was lacking a shirt, left only in his blue sweatpants. On each of the former ninja's wrists, ankles, waist and even neck, were a set of bands. Dark blue in color, with a single teal line going through the center, they glowed briskly every now and then.

All around the two were sets of workout equipment, from weight benches, to treadmills. Shining currently sat on a weight bench, form docked in a pair of white sweatpants and a white shirt, with the Royal Guard insignia on both. At his sides were a pair of towels, two water bottles, one half empty, and an orange underarmor shirt.

Currently, the changeling was sweating up a storm, as he finally pushed up for the last time.

"Yeah, well, Derpy can sometimes take a few liberties with things like that. It's one of her more confusing better points," he stated, before his twin horns glowed a pale yellow. The glow travelled its way to the bands on his person, making contact, and causing the bands' lights to diminish.

Even as the glow around them died off, halfway up the length of either horn was a splotch of faded yellow. It seemed to be a small luminescence that originated from the inside of the horns themselves, ever present.

Letting out a breath, he brought himself into a seating position, and reached for a nearby towel to dry off.

Shining offered his fellow soldier a water bottle, which the blonde took graciously, before the changeling took several swigs of it.

"Ahhhh~ Water is the true life giver!" Shining grinned at this.

"Yeah, well there's plenty of "life giver" on the floor below you and in the towel, so make sure to clean it up. We don't want Captain Morse Code on our flanks." He pointed to the spot by the blonde, who only sheepishly scratched at the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's probably not the first thing he'd want to see when entering this place." His piece said, two clones popped into existence.

"Okay guys, I need you to clean this up." The two clones looked at one another, before giving their original creator a look.

Shining sat there, cheek in hand, as he watched the trio of squabbling blondes. He idly wondered when he'd gotten so used to the sight of his blonde friend, literally, arguing with himself.

"Pfft, whatever. Come on me, let's leave our oh so glorious leader to his business, while we clean up," one of the clones said, before leading the other off in search of a mop.

"...I swear, ever since coming here, they've gotten so much moodier. I'm not like that...am I?" Naruto said, before turning to Shining for support.

The unicorn young adult grinned.

"You want the truth, or a lie to make you feel better?"

"...Yeah, I just do not care for you right now."

* * *

Stretching, with his shirt back on, Naruto let out a moan of relief, as they exited the weight room. Shining, on his left, was finishing off a bottle of water. Once done, the twenty-year-old tossed the plastic into a passing recycling bin.

Turning to his friend, Naruto asked.

"So Lt. "rising to promotion" Shining Armor, what's on the agenda for today?" The two-toned blue maned male blushed, as he scratched his cheek.

" _Please_ stop reminding me of that. Mom won't stop talking about it, and I swear if I see another set of clothing I might break out into hives." Naruto snickered, before his expression soured. Shining could only guess why, as he turned his head forward to see an approaching duo.

"Lt. Glow, and Lt. Glow!" he saluted, even as the twins saw the grin on his face. "What do we owe this you this fine day?"

"Don't patronize me, Lieutenant. Oh wait, it's still _junior officer_." Lumen didn't give more than a thin lip, while Bright simply shrugged, before patting his sister on the shoulder. Naruto let his tongue flick outwards, before smirking as Lumen's face dusted a slight pink.

Ah, the greatest of bro-cons.

Lumen seemed to catch his smirk, face burning slightly more, before she growled at him. Holding his hands up in surrender, he looked elsewhere.

Shining shook hands with Bright Glow, who tossed Naruto a hi-5, before getting down to business.

"Right, so we're actually here to get you two. Captain Morse wants to see you, soon to be lieutenant, as well as you Uzumaki," Bright started, even as Lumen grumbled.

Ignoring her, he continued.

"Uzumaki, you've been cleared for your fifth mission...officially." They all shared a look.

Yes, the blonde had more than enough "experience," in the eyes of those that were there to see him in true action. That didn't mean he could just skip regulation, considering he was _still_ considered a junior officer.

They couldn't bend the rules like that for him...at least not officially.

Under his record, Naruto had, maybe, four real marks for missions. But unofficially?

He was well into his twenties, as far as count went.

Nodding their heads, both changeling and white unicorn, followed their commanding officers.

* * *

 _Dear Derpy,_

 _Yo! How's everything been? Not sure, when you'll get this, Spike can really only send mail to you as fast as the next mailpony, but hope ya doing well._

 _As for the whole "Dear Naruto" thing...Maybe? I've never really had to write a lot of letters before, so I'm no expert. Though, haven't we had this conversation before?_

 _Maybe it's just me._

 _I'm glad you like the coupon. There's not really a lot I could have gotten for you, besides another muffin eyepatch, so I figured, why not an actual MUFFIN?_

 _Well it's a coupon, but it's basically the same thing._

 _I think._

 _I 'm glad to hear about the raise. Old man Boss can be really nice when he's got a couple extra workers. =^_^=_

 _Tell Dinky I miss her too, as does Spike. Though I have to ask, has he been sending more of those books to her, or is that just me?_

 _I didn't think that they'd really start getting into those interactive novels. First it was Destiny/Stuck Daylight, then it was that Choice Master series, Armor Hero and that one about the mafia._

 _I still think he made the right choice to drop Blade Style Visual. You know, that one about that seemingly OP guy, called the Dark Bladesmen, trapped in an illusionary game?_

 _Seriously, I'm glad the dragon's got taste._

 _As for the crush...I'm going to be ribbing Spike later. Don't worry, he shall never hear the end of this, until the day goes long._

 _Yes, Spike is now Eight, muffin not included._

 _Enjoy the coupon._

 _Good for Golden, I remember the last time she had us test it, and it was okay then. Did she make it better?_

 _I'm hoping your dad's feeling better. I'll see about maybe finding some medicine in Canterlot. Even if this reaches you late, Canterlot medicine is pretty damn good._

 _No worries, I'm just happy to know that everypony is relatively okay._

 _Oh right, how's the black belt test going? You're going for your second dan, right? I'll have to remember to help keep you on your toes, metaphorically._

 _Also have you been practicing_ that _? I know we just started, but practice makes perfect._

 _Gotta end it here. We've got a mission to someplace, near an area of the Trottingham's Swamp._

 _Talk to you later._

 _-Naruto_

 _P.S. I think it's supposed to be "Sincerely Yours" then your name. Maybe? I just ignore it altogether._

* * *

She heard her little sister read off the letter, allowing a smile to come to her face, her uncovered eyes closing in response.

"Sister, it sounds like he's doing just fine. Though, Dinky having a crush? She's still only six. Besides, I bet they're just friends," Amethyst Star stated, as her eyes moved to the stretching form of her sister.

Derpy was currently dressed in a pair of black, form fitting, spandex shorts while over her top was a black tank top. Said clothing items were currently being put to the test of covering modesty, as the pegasus mare bent in all manner of ways, the clothing slightly damp.

Amethyst Star gave her sister a half-lidded look, as they sat in the living room. Her eyes traced her sister's body in slight envy, before she grinned a cheeky grin.

Subtlety, so as to not gain Derpy's attention, she removed a camera from her pocket.

Waiting for the exact moment, as when her sister was too far into certain stretches, she snapped a photo or two.

'Hehehe, Naruto's going to be getting a surprise soon,' she thought mischievously, not noticing her younger sister coming up behind her.

"Amethyst, what's the camera for?" The unicorn teenager froze, as she slowly turned her head behind her to see Dinky giving her a confused look. In the foal's hands were a towel, and water bottle.

"Hmm?" Derpy stood up from a stretch, attention now on Amethyst's frozen form.

"Uhhhhh~ Photos!" the pink unicorn in the room exclaimed, catching both her sisters off-guard. The two gave her a larger bemused stare, causing her to grin nervously at them.

"Photos for Naruto, of course!" she said it like it was common sense. "You know, let him know nothing really bad has happened. Like Dinky getting a peg leg, or Derpy sprouting a horn. You know, update pictures." she stated with a wave of the hand, sweating the whole way.

'Buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it!' Derpy gave her sister a slightly suspicious look, before it disappeared into a cheerful grin.

"Amethyst that's a wonderful idea!" the teenage unicorn let out a breath in relief, before Derpy put on an alarmed expression.

"Wait!" Amethyst froze, eyes going wide in disbelief.

'Did she-?'

"I can't take a photo dressed like this! I need a shower," bringing up the lower portion of the tank top she gave it a sniff, and cringed, "And new clothes, yuck." she pouted.

Amethyst watched as her sister did this, her eyes lowering from their widened states, as she held her chest in relief.

"Ooh, mama, you can wear the nice blue one." The pegasus's eyes widened before she zipped to and past her baby girl. On the way she quickly retrieved the water and towel, gave the unicorn six-year-old a kiss on the head, and disappeared down the hall.

Ignoring Dinky's giggles, Amethyst merely smirked as she looked at the camera in her pocket.

'Oh Naruto, you owe me big for this one.'

She'd have to get this developed when she was coming home from school.

 _ **~TCL~**_

A certain changeling was currently sitting in his partnered tent. The slightly large structure was currently empty, save for him, but he wasn't worried. He could hear the others outside as they were finishing up putting things away for the night.

In his hand was a decently sized envelope, which had appeared in a flicker of green flame.

"Spike's range is pretty ridiculous, now that I think about it." Though that might very well be his fault.

He _might_ have actually, probably, possibly, gotten the drake to tap into the magic of his being. Well more like, he was able to teach the drake how to harness it for things other than sending letters.

Ever since Celestia had officially given him over to Twilight's care, the boy had had a _very_ passionate interest in being like Naruto. It had been cute. Most of the family had even encouraged him to try, probably not thinking it'd develop into anything other than more hero worship.

 _Had been._

Naruto could still remember their faces when he'd accepted the drake into his tutelage, none more so than Twilight and Trixie, when they found out.

Now they probably thought Naruto was just going to humor the drake. After all, Naruto could do things that just weren't very...plausible.

That's when Shining had got involved, and joined them in their little sessions, and was following along with Spike, leaving the others with more curiosity. Especially when they'd taken the drake with them for a month of training with the Royal Guards.

One month later, came Spike's triumphant yell, when he came home.

Not from his newly developing wings, that'd they'd found on his back, but from the glowing flame hands he now wielded.

Needless to say, Trixie had been beside herself with indignation.

* * *

" _Trixie's number of rival students has grown!"_

* * *

He chuckled as he opened the envelope.

Trixie wasn't the only one to be flabbergasted though. Twilight was beside herself in shock, and the freak out that followed after was _hilarious_.

* * *

" _But, but, you, you can't! This isn't-! Why is! SNenfjjngjfwene ekfj!"_

* * *

All in all, Spike now having magic powers was accepted by this point. Twilight could now share in more of her studies with the drake than she already did. Trixie now, after thinking about it in some kind of twisted logic, had a junior student. Moondancer was fine letting him join, though she had to get use to him.

Night Light had been ecstatic, actually. He remembered the days when he'd taught Shining Armor, and now he could do once more with Spike. Twilight Velvet, on the other hand...Well she was quick to lay down ground rules about his now, more magicky, fire.

And Spike?

* * *

" _I am the Metal of my Blade!"_

" _Begone in death, and returned in Life!"_

" _So as I plead, Infinite Sword Realm!"_

" _Do you have enough in stock Emperor of Champions?!"_

* * *

He was enjoying himself, _immensely_.

He wasn't going to be sending off a lot spells anytime soon, but the young dragon was able to use a pretty good sensing spell. That was just it though. The drake had had the spell for all of a year, and he seemed to practice it ALL the time.

It had been especially hilarious when the drake had been able to sense Shining and Cadance, ahem, in the moment, across all of Canterlot. Luckily, nobody had to give a child 'The Talk' that night, as Naruto had gone ahead by himself to investigate.

Ever since, the drake would use his new powers to thwart the enemy known as 'long distances away from home.'

For his part, Naruto had asked Celestia to teach him the spell that she had taught Spike.

When asked why, he replied that he had a pen pal that he wanted to keep in touch with and that Spike would mail it for him, considering the drake also had a pen pal in the same neighborhood.

Oh she knew he was telling the truth, completely, but he had a feeling that Spike and Cadance might have mentioned Derpy in explicit detail.

The alicorn princess couldn't smirk hard enough...Oh wait, she _had_ started _grinning_ at him!

Tattle-tales, the lot of them.

Back to the present, he shook out the contents of the envelope, and found the usual letter.

Along with some additions.

There were several photos among the items, and another square envelope as well.

Picking up and reading the letter, he set it to the side, and picked up the four photos.

One held a picture of the whole family of them. Derpy, Dinky, Amethyst and Rolling Barrel.

Another held a picture of Derpy with Golden Harvest. They were standing in front of a small store, with a Carrot emblem on the top of it, both holding up their two fingers in a V.

The third held a picture of Amethyst looking embarrassed, as she gave a hug to Dinky. If the changeling was right, Derpy was probably cooing about how cute they looked.

The final picture, the blonde took a good time looking at.

It was Derpy, in a lone picture by herself. She was currently smiling at the camera, her right eye closed, with a pale blue eyepatch over the left one. The eyepatch was emblazoned with two things, a trail of muffins on one end, and a triplet of bubbles in the center that the muffins spiraled into.

On her body was a large, mulberry grey hoodie. It was a zip-up hoodie, and currently the zipper was zipped up to about a foot, leaving the article of clothing open, revealing her white shirt beneath. On her bottoms she had a pair of normal shorts, red in color. To tie it up, she had a single bangle on her right calf, a trend that he'd heard was catching on.

It was a simple set up, minus the eyepatch which was the only irregularity.

Simple, casual and comfortable. It was Derpy in her element. He couldn't help, but to stare at her posed against a railing, smiling at the camera with the sun setting in the back.

He let out a soft smile. Amethyst Star was truly gifted in the way of photo taking. To make a jewel shine in the best way, that was what the teenage unicorn's Cutie Mark meant, but she might not understand just how ambiguous "jewel" can be.

He was looking at a pretty precious one, even now. All of them were of a quality that led him to believe that she could go far, if she did this for more than a hobby.

"Naruto? Oh I guess you got mail from Derpy again, huh? Hehe, getting gifts from your marefriend, I know that feel." He didn't know when Shining Armor got behind him, so he jumped slightly before looking at the lieutenant to be in confusion.

"When the Tartarus did you get here?" The unicorn ignored the question, before going over and picking up the letter. Reading over it some, he raised an eyebrow, as he looked up at the blonde.

"Update photos?" he asked, causing Naruto to show him the four pictures, which Shining whistled at.

"Damn, these look good, especially the one of your marefriend." he stated, causing the blonde to nod, before he froze.

"She's not my-!" Shining waved him off.

"Right, right, denial. Blah, blah, blah, she's a friend, blah, blah, blah, you don't feel that way, BLAH. Dude, you two dance around the issue so much, me and Cadance set up a betting pool with the whole family." Naruto's brain stopped to process that for a moment, face turning blue.

"You what?!" he seemed to squeak, whereas Shining merely shook his head at him in disappointment.

"You two have got it so bad for one another, it's _painful_ to look at." The ninja still tried to argue.

"But-"

"You go to see her in another city."

"I-"

"You send letters to each other, all the time, or when you can."

"You-"

"How's Dinky by the way?"

"Oh she's fine! She's pretty smart for a filly her age, and I think all that reading between her and Spike is doing her some good. She recently started going to school and she's above all the other kids. I'm so proud, you know?" The blonde stopped to smile in pride, before noticing the look on Shining's face.

The blonde thought for a moment, about what just happened and slammed his face into his hands, Shining "Tsk"-ing the whole way. Naruto peeked down at the papers and photos in between his fingers, and eyes that one envelope he didn't open.

Picking up, the lone square envelope, he turned it around and read the front of it.

 _To: Naruto_

 _From: Amethyst_

 _You owe me, one._

He looked at the small words for a moment, before popping open the envelope. Four more pictures were situated inside, and he moved to remove the stack and flared them out in his hands.

He stared, and his mind came to a halt.

He _stared_ hard.

 _He stared harder than he ever thought was possible, to stare at a horribly SEXY inanimate object._

Shining took notice of his changeling friend's current disposition. The changeling's countenance hadn't changed, not even a twitch of the lip. His eyes stayed in a mocking fashion of apathy, but the unicorn officer could see the blonde's face quickly lighting up to neon blue intensity. It didn't even look like Naruto was breathing at this point

He blinked, and crawled over to look at the photos in the blonde's hands, and froze.

They both stared, faces shining the color of their life waters, before Shining snapped out of it, and coughed harshly off to the side, tearing his eyes away from the photos in Naruto's possession.

His mind betrayed him, and put Cadance into the placeholder of _those_ positions, and his mind completely rode down into the gutter.

Naruto was too far gone to notice his brother in all but blood, falling unconscious onto his mat.

His mind was too preoccupied.

'Napinfoiaunwostripednaounfcuanecunabsoluteterritorynouenofnea!'

 _ **~TCL~**_

They'd run for so long. Their breath had been dry, their carapace had been cracked and their numbers...dwindled.

They'd made it some distance from the original dangerous location, but the beast had followed

There lay only two of them now, well technically it was three, but the third one. The _newbie_ , had been a spy. A goddamn _spy!_

"Curse there all-mother! Damn her, and her entire colony to the deepest of pits!" he growled, the only thing tempering his rage was the groaning of his lone squad mate.

" _*Groan*_ can a ling not get some peace and quiet around here? Ow." his compatriot had deemed himself fit, to return to the land of the awake, thankfully.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, causing his partner to groan as he held a hand to his rib section.

"What...What happened? Where is everyling?" here he snorted.

"Dead, or a traitor! The newbie, he was a spy from the Ruby Hive! He lead the damn beast here, and left us all to die!" the other one's eyes widened in disbelief.

"How? How?! He shouldn't have been able to just join us like that."

"I don't know! All I know is, that we're down here in a pit!"

"Why are we in a pit anyway? Couldn't you just transform and get us out?" He looked at him in shame.

"I, I cannot. I'm tired, I've lost so much blood, I having a hard time staying upright." His partner gave a mere understanding nod.

"Then, since I'm awake, I'll get us out. Errg, ah! Why can't I?" his partner hissed, as his form flashed green but his form lay unchanged. The shameful look increased tenfold, and he sunk farther into it.

"You can't."

"Why _not_?"

"I had to use the emotion I had stored up to stabilize you." His silence was expected.

"You what?! You could have gotten away from here! You could have easily transformed and run-"

"Run WHERE?! We aren't in any position to do anything! You expected me to go back out there, and try and outrun that animal?! To leave you here to die, only for a slight chance of living myself?!" His outburst was loud enough to shake the confines of the pit they were in, causing them both to grimace and use their hands to shield their heads.

His partner threw him a look, and he deflated at it. Letting out a sigh, he allowed himself to lay fully against the floor.

"I didn't want to be alone," he said.

"..."

"..."

"...Fine, fine, I get it. Way to be the dramatic. So how long do you think until we're toast?"

"..."

"Okay geeze, just trying to lighten the mood."

Right then, there was a loud roar, as well as the sounds of voices they didn't know, causing him to shoot up in alarm.

"Wait, did you hear that?! Others!" his partner exclaimed, before grimacing. He, himself, did so as well.

There weren't supposed to be any others out here, so that only left two options.

Either there were ponies out there, which carried with it, more implications. Or...it was an enemy hive squad.

They hoped desperately for the former.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Naruto, I don't like the looks of this."

"...It's the same as before," he said, currently knelt down by a rather large patch of disturbed grass. Getting up, he moved over to Shining's location, only to stop as he looked down once more.

The troop they had been in had been moving throughout the swamp some time ago.

Trottingham wasn't anywhere near close to Canterlot. It was on a small isle, somewhere closer to Manehattan, than anywhere else.

Even now, he was kind of sad. He couldn't visit Derpy and them, but he was on the job at the time. There'd be time to visit them in a month, so he wasn't that broken up about it. Besides, if he was truly desperate...Well, **Kage Bunshin** was always an option to send across the waters.

As they were treading through the swamp, the blond couldn't help but think of the reason they were here.

* * *

" _There have been reports of a chimera roaming the Swamp." Sail Wind stated, as he flipped through the set of papers in front of him. In front of him stood Naruto and Shining Armor. The two stood in attention in front of the pegasus captain's desk._

 _Done sorting through the documents, green eyes moved up to the two in front of him, his hands steepled._

" _I'm sending you two, along with a squad, to find and deal with the appointed creature. If it can be reasoned with, a deal of diplomacy can be dealt out. Otherwise…" he left the other option unsaid, but they both understood._

" _Yes, sir!"_

" _Good. Now the reason I called you two into here is because Shining Armor will be leading the squad for this mission." Their eyes widened, before Naruto bumped the bluenette's shoulder._

" _Dude!" The unicorn in the room flushed slightly, before saluting._

" _It'd be an honor, sir." Sail smiled at him, before saluting him back._

" _It'd be good of you to get used to this lieutenant." the unicorn just grinned even harder._

* * *

A chimera, huh?

"Hey Shining, I read the report, but how many of these things are we supposed to be looking out for?" Shining frowned at the question, as he kept his eyes forward. He could hear the muttering of the squad of junior officers behind him, and gave the question some thought.

"It's highly unlikely that there's more than one. Chimera, while neither rare nor common, usually keep to themselves. Mostly on part of the fact that they can be made up of multiple animal parts, some of which may have sentience that keeps them of disjointed opinion of one another." The blonde nodded his head, before frowning.

"Then I think we need to move, and quickly." Lieutenant-to-be noted his urgent tone with a frown.

The blonde changeling continued, getting up quickly. His body moving away from the sets of hoofprints that he found in the soil, that lay possibly a couple of meters from a large paw shape they found earlier.

"We're not the only ones in this forest with the chimera!"

* * *

They rushed, as they moved through the slightly muddy area.

"I want all available personnel to be on the lookout! This just became a search-and-destroy mission!" Shining barked out orders as he, Naruto, and the squad of soldiers ran through the forest.

"Naruto, I want clones!"

"Already on it! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** " he shouted, crossing his fingers along the way. The next moment found several explosions of smoke, before the copies of the ninja began running alongside the troop.

Many of those with them had only really heard of the blonde's skillset. So they stared, mouths agape, even as they ran.

Shining gave the order.

"Spread out!" And the clones scattered to the four winds, each blurring out of sight, before the troops were alone, figuratively, once more.

They slowed their run to a stop.

"I want everyone in four man groups! No matter the group I want a unicorn in each one! If you encounter something, I want an immediate flare before anything else! Your priority is civilian safety, and all else comes second!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Came the cries of his troops, as they moved about in disciplined fashion into their sets of groups.

This breakdown left Shining with a squad of five, though he was quick to amend this.

"Naruto," the ninja's attention snapped to his friend's call, and he looked to the white unicorn.

"I need you to scout ahead. You're the best fighter here, and I can trust you to have your own back. Both metaphorically, and literally. You have the best chance of not being caught off guard badly when alone." He wore a serious expression, but the blonde still smiled at him, and gave a quick nod.

"I'll move on ahead then. Keep an eye at your backs." With his piece said, he disappeared from his position into the forest.

Shining watched the space where the blond was for a moment, before deciding to move.

"I want all of us to stay close! No matter what, keep yourselves quiet, and your senses wide," he ordered, as they moved in a southern direction.

* * *

He dashed around, as the floor beneath his hooves became slightly drier in comparison to what it was before.

He'd ventured a good bit away from the swampy areas, and headed towards the rockier terrain. It was still mostly flat land, and forest, but it had several small dips in geography.

"Hello! Is anybody out there?!" He shouted once, or twice, before moving on farther into the terrain.

He stopped. The memories of a clone shot into his mind, as it reached the end of the island from the direction it went. Going over the path it took, he was sure the other clones got the same information, so he continued forward.

Several more instances of this happening, and he could only grunt in disappointment, as they each summed up to basically "nothing was found" kind of memories.

He must not have been paying attention to where he was going, because the next moment had him right in front of the entrance of a large cave-like divot.

He couldn't help but to notice this strange feeling he got.

It was like a weird tingle in the back of his mind. It was kind of like his connection to his shadow clones, but different. More instinctive than even the clone bearing ability own sensibility. He didn't notice how the small dull splotch of yellow in his horns brightened slightly from within the shell casing.

Something was calling to him here. He didn't know what it was, or maybe, _who_ it was, but it caught his attention all the same.

They say curiosity killed the cat, but Naruto wondered if curiosity had met a certain cat named Tora.

So with nothing to lose, he shouted down into the burrow.

"Hello?! Anybody down there?!" his voice echoed as it went down, rebounding off walls and probably becoming louder than he was expecting.

He waited, and waited, seeing if there would be any form of callback.

When ten minutes passed, he opted to just leave the area, and continue forward.

"Hello! Please help us! Is anyling out there?!" this shout froze him solid.

His mind catching up, he came closer to the entrance, and shouted again.

"Yes, yes! I'm here! Are you okay?!"

"We need help! We're both injured!"

The blonde changeling didn't even waste any time going down there. Before the end of that sentence, he was already running into the cave. Right before, though, he made sure to create and then dispel a clone.

* * *

They'd all but given up hope of surviving this, before they heard the voice…

...And felt the feeling that came along with it.

His eyes widened, as did his partner's.

This was impossible. No, it was _more_ than impossible.

"He's male?" they looked to each other in disbelief, as that feeling grew closer.

"Hello?! Anybody down there?!" the voice echoed, and that confirmed it. Definitely male.

They looked to each other in shock, before realizing that this was their chance!

"Yes, yes! I'm here! Are you okay?!" he shouted, his partner blinking for a moment, before joining in.

"We need help! We're both injured!"

They waited at that point, minds filled with a kind of anxiety of what, or who would find them.

In a moment, that feeling on the edges of their senses seemed to split in TWO, before it became one again.

Their eyes widened, as they turned to look at one another.

Wait, what?

"I'm coming! Just hold on!" They could feel that feeling coming closer with each moment, their senses catching onto how potent and familiar this kind of thing felt.

"It shouldn't be possible, but, but," he started, but his partner simply sighed.

"We'll find out in a minute, won-" he didn't get to finish, because in that moment, something crashed into the floor by them, kicking up dirt and an obscuring dust cloud.

"Okay, so maybe jumping ALL the way down, wasn't such a smart idea...Still worked though." they could hear someling from within the cloud, and as it cleared, they felt their eyes widen.

HE was in uniform, of a sorts. Fashioned from leather paddings, and straps. The fact that he wore pants was just telling, of how far more civilized he was, compared to other hives.

But that wasn't the biggest factors. No, the biggest factor was that he had a _pair_ of 4-inch horns on his head, with an illumination coming from the center portions, and the color of his eyes.

Blue compact eyes looked at them in shock, as their own greens looked at his.

The Sapphire Hive.

* * *

When Naruto looked at the two, who he would be saving, he could be forgiven for freezing on the spot.

They were...they were…

"Just like me…" it came out as more of a whisper. Sure there were a few differences.

They both bore green eyes, and a top their heads he saw no real discernable "hair," as well as the fact that they both had only one horn. Those aside, he was just generally taller than them, but that was it.

He wasn't sure how to deal with this. Sure he was stranded, but from his _home dimension_ , not from wherever these guys came from. So he wasn't really sure on how to feel about this, they were basically just like him.

The difference between them, was that one had a set of fins coming from the top of his head, like a shark as he stared from his position on the floor. The other, using his right arm to look up at him, had a pair of bands on his stomach.

Taking them both in more carefully, he noticed that there were several cracks in either of their shells. The cloth they wore though, was a seeming mismatch of cultures. One was wearing what looked like a tore ruffled shirt, and shorts, the one with the head fins. The one with the bands was wearing a long set of cargos, that were ripped at the ankles, and a sash.

He looked down, as he felt his hoof step into something wet. Looking down, he saw that it glowed a dark green color and lead back to the cracks in the banded one's side.

He focused.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked as he crept forward, only for them to flinch as he did, causing him to stop.

What?

"What hive do you hail from?" the shirtless one questioned, as he tried and failed to move himself into a defensive position.

"Hive? Oh," he said thoughtlessly, before realizing right after.

Well, it made sense. They were bug-like, regardless of the pony shape. He scratched the side of his head, as he looked at them. He saw their looks of apprehension, and wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Uh, well, I-"

"Do you hail from the Emerald Hive? I've never seen you before, and while I know we have a few of you Blues, I'd recognize that outfit from checkout," the one with the Prench era looking top shot off.

"Well I'm-"

"Who ARE you, really? Your kind should be extinct outside of any clan," the sash wearer, shot off as well, causing the blonde's eyes to widen.

"What?"

"You...You don't work for one of the Others...You're here to finish us off, after your buddy tried to kill us!"

"Wait no, hold on!"

"What are you?! There shouldn't be any other mo-Ah!" the one with the fins screamed, from his place on the ground, his partner looking at him with concern. The both of them were shocked to find that the blonde had somehow managed to appear between them, kneeling by the changeling with the ripped ankle length pants.

'T-Too fast! /His speed!'

Naruto looked over the wounded changeling's side, his bright blue eyes catching the cracked shell near his lower left side. Reaching into the side of his pants, they froze in horror, awaiting the weapon, only for a small bit of smoke to come into existence, before it cleared to reveal a med-kit.

Naruto was quick to apply what medical knowledge he actually had, those from Konoha and the Royal Guard.

Removing the bandages, he inspected the wound, and turned his face up to the expecting changeling.

"I'm going to need to move you. You don't trust me, but right now, you need to stem this, or it's going to get bad." The changeling seemed too shock to do anything, other than nod. Following a little bit of wincing from the sash one, he got him wound up and patched, before working on his friend.

Looking at his handy work, the blonde smiled at his good job. Not the best, but he was fairly proficient, thanks to his RG training.

Sashy and Prenchy looked at one another, before turning to him.

"T-thank you! We weren't expecting another changeling, who's not our own, to actually...help us," Prenchy said, causing the blonde to frown.

"Wait, hold on, this makes me remember what you said earlier. What was _that_ all about?" They looked at him, as if he'd been living under a rock.

Looking, once again, at each other, Prenchy turned back to him.

"You...You're not with any of the established hives, are you? That has to be it, you're a Blue-eyes, so it can't be anything else, unless you've been hidden away all this time." His words caused the blonde to tilt his head in confusion.

'Blue-eyes?'

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." he said with a straight face, causing them to look at him even harder. They searched his eyes for any trace of deception they could find, but came up short, yet their eyes went higher onto his head.

Their eyes widened, as they remembered.

"You-you're a," he gulped audibly, "m-monarch?!" Sashy was giving him the same look of awesome, fear and intrigued.

Though, he noted, the fear seemed to win out.

"A 'monarch?' I'm no prince, as far as I know, so you must be mistaken." They shook their heads immediately in the negative.

"I-impossible! You've got the Sense of one! I've only ever felt these when, when," his mind swam deeper, and deeper into his pit of fear, as his partner finished.

"When the Queens come out to "play"." The sash wearing one shuddered, as he recalled the memory. When the Queens came together, there was no knowing of what would happen.

They were sisters, by blood, but they _hated_ each other to such a degree. To call them sisters would be a moot point, when they'd take any chance to kill each other. They've done it before, considering their use to be FIVE sisters.

"Queens? I thought the only royalty was the princesses." His words caused their jaws to drop. The mere thought that there was any changeling alive, that knew not of the Queens! It was physically impossible.

"How?" Naruto frowned at the whisper from Prenchy, before the changeling looked at him with an intense gaze.

"How?! How have you bypassed detection for so long?! Where have you been, under a rock?!"

"Lavae, calm down." "Prenchy, or "Lavae" now, turned to his associate.

""Calm down"? This isn't a situation to 'calm down' about! We've been infiltrated, there's a spy in our ranks, and now we're dealing with this!" he gestured to the, now, pouting Naruto. The only one in the pit, with any kind of "hair," snorted.

Rude.

"There's nothing calm about this, Roamure." Roamure grimaced.

"I know, but nothing about this matches up." He turned to Naruto, with a determined frown.

"Who _are_ you?" Roamure didn't gus it up, straight to the point, which Naruto could appreciate.

Wearing his best serious smile, he introduced himself.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. Changeling of the Royal Guards, junior officer." They looked at him in shock.

"Nah-rue-toe?" Lavae pronounced, causing the blonde to scratch his head, brushing past the "locks".

"You know you're a changeling, but nothing of the Queens, clans or even your kind?" Naruto frowned, as he looked at them, their expressions shifting to slight fear before he spoke.

"Nope! I didn't know I was a changeling, until Princess Celestia told me I was. Or more like, called me one. Hehe," he laughed nervously, as their expressions shifted to uncomfortable.

"Um, not to be rude, Sire," the blonde rose an eyebrow at this, even as the changeling gulped once more. "Forgive my rudeness, but where have you been? Surely you must belong to some colony. You're a Monarch Changeling, sir."

At the question, Naruto only closed his eyes, as he ran the term "Monarch changeling" through his mind.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but I found my way to the land of Equestria by...circumstance, some four years ago. I didn't know of any others like myself, and was alone," here he smiled. "I met up with some pony Royal Guardsmen, and well, here I am now." He grinned at them, trying to calm their nerves.

They deflated, minds reeling as they tried to take this in. Naruto wanted to give them quarter, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, for this life anyway.

Other changelings. The mere idea was something he'd never really contemplated before. Sure, Celestia mentioned them in passing, about the amount of hives, but he'd given it little thought since then.

Now? He had a set of them in front of him.

So many questions, so many things he wanted to ask them.

Oh! He knew, what to ask first!

"So, man this is weird, but what are hives like?" his question threw them for a loop, though the eager look he had made it hard for them to deny him.

That, and well, he was monarch.

Pren-Lavae, spoke up.

"We live in colonies of a few thousands, the hives, but there are separate groups. They are the clans, typically recognized for their reproductive qualities." He took that in, before tilting his head.

"Reproductive qualities?" They nodded at him.

"Qualities that make a better drone. Speed, power, magic, transformation, and understanding of transformation. There are typically five main big clans of those types, but there are sometimes sub-branches." Naruto couldn't help but blink at this.

It was scary, just how similar they were to ninja clans. It was _frightening_. Snapping himself out of it, he asked another question.

This one being...of a more _personal_ , biological nature.

"So, reproduction?" they looked like they wanted to run away at the question.

Had noling ever given him the Talk of Coitus?!

Seeing the looks being sent his way, he nervously laughed, before coughing into his fist.

"I mean; I know what _sex_ is! What I was asking, was, well, is that how we reproduce?" he couldn't help the heat going to his face, as he revealed the meaning.

They stopped looking like they wanted to run, at the least, and considered what he said.

"Well, that depends on some factors." Roamure started. Naruto urging him on, with a pleading look, actual got the changeling to chuckle slightly before he coughed into his own fist.

"For most changelings, or the males, we'd breed by using our ovipositors," he started. Seeing Naruto's questioning look, he was about to explain, before Lavae piped in.

"Our dicks." glaring at his partner, he sighed, but saw that Naruto got it.

"Right. We'd lay our eggs in our chosen mates, and in about 2 months' time, those eggs hatch and breed our young." seeing the blonde's wince, though, was cause for concern.

"You seemed dissatisfied, my Quee-err, King." Naruto rubbed the back his head, as he looked at them.

"Isn't there, like, any other way?" they looked at him, confused, so he elaborated.

"Like, isn't there a way to reproduce _without_ the eggs, bit." Roamure was looking at him in confusion.

Lavae, on the other hand.

"You mean like a pony, don't you?" the Prench looking one asked, causing Roamure to snap his head in his direction, before turning to Naruto's. Naruto had a large line of blue going across his face, as he scratched his cheek.

"But, _why_? I don't get it. Shouldn't you want to, I don't know, revive your hive? Tartarus, if anything, I'm sure there would be plenty of female changelings willing to mate with you. You're the literal first male monarch, you'd be getting laid left, and right, OW! Roamure, you dick!" Lavae hissed, as his fellow changeling kicked his in the shin, before Roamure turned to Naruto.

"Regardless of how, _eloquently_ , he put it, Lavae is not wrong. With the right pheromone mix, you'd have your own personal hive within a year. Heck, I bet even our Queen would recognize you as the worthiest of giving her children. Prestige, fame and power,." he stated, factually, Lavae nodding in the background.

"You could have it all." Naruto looked at him for a moment, before he smiled a true smile.

A memory of a certain cross-eyed mare, coming to his head, he shook his head.

"I seek none of those things. I... there's a pony, that I'm friends with, and I want to do my best by her. We're not together, but I hope to one day, know her better than we've established ourselves as. She's lead a rough life, and well, if it ever got that far, I want her to feel as normal as possible." he spoke in the sincerest of tones, that it took them aback.

Monarchs didn't normally do this. They loved their subjects, but whenever they did something, it was for the hive and personal gain. What this one was saying, though…

"Well, it's not like egg making is the only way," Lavae said, with a small smile. Roamure closed his eyes for a moment, before nodding.

"He's correct. It is very possible to give birth normally." His eyes widened, before he eagerly leaned in.

"Like we said, there are clans, and that the Queen mates to get the most reproductive quality. We can breed through eggs, and the normal birthing process, and she will hold the child for usually about 6-7 months, before giving birth." Here, Naruto blinked.

"6-7?"

"Yes, that's the typical average. There are even hive-memories of changelings who'd birthed outside of the hive with other species, and the same holds true. Changelings are built to be born quicker. It's just efficient." Naruto looked at them, before sighing in relief.

"So how do I turn off the egg-making function, of my dick?"

Things proceeded, much more fluidly, from there. Until the concept of age came up.

"Changelings mature in molting cycles. Typically, they molt on specific years of their lives. The birthing where they shed their egg casing, at their 3rd, 7th, 10th and 13th year, they grow. Come the 14th-18th years, they become aware of how pheromones work, as well as mating. Come their 20th, they're considered adults and gain any final characteristic defined by their birth," Roamure said, as he, Lavae and Naruto sat in a circle.

It'd been maybe all of ten minutes since he'd finished tying the bandages on these guys. 15 minutes since he'd found them, and 18 since he'd left on Shining's orders.

He didn't have any memories, or clones for that matter, of anything affecting the others.

"By the way, Sire, if you don't mind me asking. How old are you? I'd assume you're in your twentieth year, or you're getting close." Naruto tilted his head at this.

"Huh? How can you tell? I mean, yeah, I'm 19, but what tipped you off?" Lavae gave a closed eyed grin, before tapping the blonde's forearm. The sound of Lavae's digit, vs Naruto's shell made a sort of crick.

"That's how. You may not notice it, but you've been filling out your shell. We heard it earlier, when you were patching us up. You're entering the final stages of adulthood, though I'm not sure if it's going to be the same as normal changeling adulthood. Especially the monarch kind." Roamure nodded his head in agreement.

Noling had ever seen a MALE changeling monarch before. The concept was so alien, that he may very well go through a different aging process than them. That, and he'd be developing his "mark" soon.

"Well, I'd trust you guys on this. I have been feeling sort of itchy as of late. So does this molting thing take time, does it happen overnight, or what?" Once more, they found themselves struck dumb.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, what?!" Lavae exclaimed, before he leaned in to look at Naruto, causing the monarch to lean backwards. Roamure leaned too, and once they saw something, they looked at him dumbfounded.

"Y-you're telling the truth? W-what, what the fuck?!" Lavae was as his usual language level.

"That's...I don't understand, how?" The sash bearer simply looked as stumped as his friend.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, and shrugged.

They looked to each other, and sighed. The two changelings simply gave up on understanding this one.

"Molting is a natural process. It's going to happen when you decide you want it to. Though the closer it gets, the more you'll notice just how tight your shell can get." Naruto nodded his head, as he thought.

"So what do I do? You know, when I want it to happen."

They explained all they could, about the process. He heard all of it, and paid close attention, soaking it all in. Just as he was about to ask another question, the cave shook, as a roar pierced the confined of the space they were in.

They did what they could to save themselves the issue of dust, and stray of pebbles/rocks, coming down on themselves.

Lavae and Roamure felt themselves freeze at the sound.

"No, not again!" Lavae screamed, as they felt the cave shudder.

"Tsk, it's still around"? It must have been in the water again." Naruto snapped his eyes to the sash wearer.

"It's what? Wait I thought you guys got tricked down here?" Lavae's gaze turned narrow.

"We were, and when I find that prick who did this, he'll be dead by my feet. Thing is, there used to be five of us, traitor included, and two of us…" Lavae trailed off, leaving Roamure to pick up.

"Two of our hive-squad were eaten by one of the weirdest looking monsters I've ever seen. Forelegs like a wolf, a lion body covered in a golden exoskeleton and a tail of a raccoon. The worst part, is that it has two heads, one a large bird and the other a salamander. Ugh," Roamure shudders, his form shaking in tune with the cave.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"So that's why we couldn't find it?"

"You know what that thing is?" Lavae asked Naruto, as the monarch changeling nodded his head in thought.

"It's a chimera. We, the Royal Guard, were sent to handle it. It recently showed up, and the locals were worried," he explained to the two, before the pit was pervaded by another sound. It wasn't a roar, but more of a static-like noise.

Feeling a slight flare at the tip of his horn, Naruto looked at them as a small spark of magic flittered between them.

" _Nar..Ne..d...fo…. Hear...e.?"_

The blonde of the three changelings held up a hand to the base of his horn, and closed his eyes.

" _Shin..g? Wha..?"_

" _Chim..a! Fo..d\in..ocea..Back.p!"_

The spark died, and the blonde felt foolish for having had this conversation run so long.

"Okay guys, I think we're going to have to take this outside," Naruto said, standing up, and shaking off any stray dust or pebbles.

The two other changelings looked at him in confusion, as he crossed his fingers. Looks of confusion turned into looks of shock, as the blonde monarch had multiplied, and the Feel of a monarch split into two.

Grabbing onto both of the changelings, the duo of clone and clone-maker jumped and ran up the side of the edge of the drop. Soaring over the edge, the clone and his originator landed with their passengers, before leaving the cave altogether.

Setting the two down, Naruto's clone dispersed, leaving the sole blonde changeling.

"Okay...I wasn't expecting _that_ , but whatever, we're out of the cave. Yay us," came Lavae's lackluster cheer, as he allowed himself to flop onto the ground unceremoniously.

Roamure was simply sitting, as he allowed his arms to keep his upper body up, before turning his head to the standing monarch.

"You're planning to leave, Sire?" Naruto's eyes simply narrowed as he focused in on the direction of the south.

"I have to go and protect my friend. What about you guys? Do you have a plan, or?" he asked, even as he fidgeted in place. Seeing the teen's bodying language, Roamure gave a single nod.

"We will be able to make it back to the hive. We're low on energy, so we'll scavenge for a bit, and regain our strength." Naruto listened, before he slipped a hand into one of his pockets, and retrieved a scroll.

Unfurling it, he made a handsign, before there was a puff of smoke.

"Here, take these. You'll need them far more than I will. Besides, I have a feeling I'm going to need to take down that thing, before you guys can go anywhere." He handed them his pack, recently unsealed, full of some decent food, bandages(extras) and canteen.

Taking the offered item, Roamure looked up, as Naruto stood and began to walk off.

Naruto was going to quickly make his way, before he heard the sounds of grunts and shuffling behind him.

Turning, he found the strangest sight. Lavae and Roamure kneeled in his direction, before they stood up shakily.

"We wish you a fortuitous battle!" Roamure.

"Kick some ass, Sire!" Lavae exclaimed, causing Roamure to slap a hand over his eyes in exasperation.

Naruto chuckled for a bit, before giving them a two fingered salute, and blurring off to the south of the isle.

Watching the young "ruler" go off, and disappear from their sights, they checked the pack and began towards the West side of the islands.

The Badlands were a good distance off, and they'd still need to wait it out, until the Chimera was defeated.

As they walked/limped, Lavae couldn't help but ask a question.

"So what do we tell Queen Chrysalis? There's now another "ruler", and she's not going to be too happy about that." The question was on both of their minds, but the answer to it was complicated.

Naruto desired no hive, rule or anything of the sort. He simply wanted to live his life as it currently was. He'd saved them, and done enough to let them return.

Were they really going to tell Chrysalis?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." said the sash wearer, leaving Lavae confused.

'What is he talking about?'

"We're going to tell her everything, of course. That's the whole point of us stealing this supplies, from an abandoned Royal Guard tent. We got patched up by some ponies under disguise, and left before anyling noticed." Lavae stopped walking for a moment, as he watched Roamure walk on, before he grinned and caught up with him.

"Yeah, that red eyed bastard that left us out here to die is gonna get what's coming to him."

"Indeed, he will."

* * *

When he finally made it to the shore, he found Shining's squad, along with the collective others, all keeping their distance from the waters. He launched himself from the forest canopy, to land at the side of a random guard, tossing his eyes over the rest of the soldiers.

They looked like someone had thrown them into a washer, and push the "pummel" setting. Their armor had been dented to an extent, with most of them looking waterlogged and/or like someone had run them through the **Suiryudan no Jutsu**.

He caught sight of Shining Armor, the lieutenant-to-be seemed to be faring the best at the moment. Catching his eyes, Naruto dashed over to him.

"What's the situation?" Shining's eyes twitched to the blonde changeling, before narrowing in on the waters.

"We found the target, as of 9 minutes ago. All attempts to make negotiations, have been...failing. The chimera doesn't seem to display intelligence, like some of the others, and has been aggressive since the beginning of contact. It currently uses hit-and-run tactics."

Naruto cursed at this, as he surveyed the waters, mind thinking of a few ways that he could probably lure out the beast, and _keep_ it on land.

"Has _any_ attempt at getting it to stay out of the water been successful?" Shining thought for a moment, before hesitantly speaking up.

As far as that was concerned, all their attempts had been failures, but not from the tactics themselves. It was more that the thing was too quick. It could slip back into the sea fast enough that they couldn't get a good handle on it.

Now that Naruto was here though.

"Naruto, do you have any ways of keeping the chimera held still, even for a moment?" The blonde in question thought about this inquiry.

He didn't have any spells for that, nor any jutsu. He could use the **Kage Bunshin** , he was indeed fast enough. That said, the shadow clones were still fragile.

No jutsu to hold it down, but...he didn't need Jutsu here, but a spell.

"I have something, but it's going to be tricky. I'm going to get it out of the water, and try to keep it down. The moment I have it down, you need to hold it down with these." he reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a pack of papers, tied together.

Taking one, Shining looked it over, before his eyes widened.

"Are these?" Naruto nodded.

"Fresh off the press."

"But, I thought they hadn't been tested yet." Naruto chuckled nervously, scratching his chin.

"They're still in the experimental phase, but you'd be surprised what a bunch of unicorns in Celestia's school would be capable of doing." Shining sent him a flat look.

Naruto spared him no more than a glance before he began towards the waters, his form changing as he went.

Going from biped to quadruped, as his skin turned pale blue and slick, like that of a fish's scales, a vulpine body jumped high into the sky, before coming down and slipping into the water, it's meter long, fin-like tail disappearing into the depths.

Those on the shore waited, even as Shining passed out each of the five tags to the squad around him.

The next moment, the water erupted skyward, as the transformed Naruto leaped out, with his tail elongated back into its wire shape, but thicker. Said tail was currently still in the water, stretched beyond normal dimensions, before the changed blonde gave a harsh mid spin.

Like the line of a fishing rod, the tail retracted, and with it came the chimera.

Sailing out of the air, with a displeased roar, the large beast fell and shook the ground upon impact. Dazed slightly, the chimera let out a vicious hiss from its salamander head, as the fox-fish hybrid came down on its lion-like body.

Naruto wasted no time, as his tail flickered orange, and multiplied, until there were nine wire like extensions in total. Each of the tails shot out, and aimed for a limb, or body part, to incapacitate.

Tail, forelegs, back legs, body, and necks captured, Naruto used his last tail to beat down on the chimera.

Its attention fully on the transformed ninja, Shining's squad surged forth, and slapped tags onto several parts of beast, before several unicorns' horns glowed, and chains shot out.

With five chains coming to lay around the beast's legs and tail, Naruto released those from his own back appendages, and allowed his other four tails to thicken.

The chimera was having none of that, as it tried to rear back, only to find its body hard to move. The wolf limbs bulged in effort, as it tried to get into standing position.

Naruto stared down at the bird head, as it went crazy, screeching at nothing and everything before it fell silent and harshly swung its neck in his grip.

Snapping its own neck.

His eyes widened as he watched this happen, before the chimera's body began to rumble. Its form began to be overtaken by magic circles. Naruto was quick to release his hold, when the circles began to encroach upon the portions he was holding, and burned him.

'Yikes!'

He found purchase in the ground near Shining, skidding to a stop, as he turned to look at the display of the chimera.

The circles rotated around its being, gaining speed, before it all became one large egg. Little flickers shot off at random, before it stopped altogether.

What was revealed though, wasn't what they were expecting, as the chimera's shape seemed to change.

Gone was the large raccoon like tail and eagle head. The tail was now lizard like, with a flash of silver fur going down its middle, with the salamander's head now fitting perfectly square on its own shoulders. The whole body has shifted in color to dark blue, same as the salamander head, and was far moister than they would be comfortable touching. Large horn like extensions shot out from the back of the salamander's head, arching in a way not unlike a deer's. The biggest change had to be that the thing was now walking on two legs, and its forelegs switched to arms of a more bearish quality.

They stared for a moment at the changed beast. It was like it gave up ALL its other parts for a simple change to normalcy.

If only it were that simple, as they soon found out, once its cheeks bulged outward.

"Get down!" Shining barked, as he grabbed two by him and brought all of them to the floor. Naruto went as fast as he could, as he had his tails split back into Nine to grab as many soldiers as he could, before leaping over a beam of a sludge like substance.

Those who'd gotten to the ground, barely inches away from the splash area, began to scramble away from the now hissing liquid product. The slime eating through the sand and forest floor alike.

Naruto, and those he had with him, could only stare from up above at the area where the beam had landed.

'That's not good.'

Landing on sand once more, he leaped again as the Chemander shot another blast his way. This repeated a couple more times, incensing the vulpine fish, and his tail's occupants. Shining watched on, as he saw the creature focus solely on his transformed friend.

"Sir, what are we supposed to do?" he could hear the two beside him ask, the pony on his left being the one to voice the question. Taking the two in, he found himself in the presence of a pegasus and earth pony, male and female respectively.

Turning his head back to the Chemander, he thought hard about what they could do.

He took in its now slimy skin, the horns which now sparked every now and then, and larger, bulkier legs. He blinked, once he realized that the tags weren't on the creature anymore, and looked down to notice that they were now on the floor, half-eaten away.

"The slime is now acidic in nature, and I can only assume that it has some form of lightning capability." He watched as Naruto jumped over and onto the water. The beast's horns sparked once, and lightning shot out of its maw at the fox fish's location.

The changeling ninja was quick to shift his skin to a nonconductive nature of yellow scales, but still launched himself out of the erratic beam of energy. The electricity surged through the sea and more than just a few dead fish rose to the surface, with the beam splitting the ocean with waves one pony high.

He winched at the sight, before shaking his head and letting out a breath.

'Focus on the enemy, nothing else is important. All your mind should see is a way to beat it, not failure. Captaining 101.' He focused in on the Chemander, as it finished its beam attack. He noted that the horns weren't clicking with energy anymore, and that the head was dry at that moment.

Looking down at its legs, he saw that said appendages were in troughs of its own making. Recoil from the blast, maybe?

Naruto was apparently tired of being a large target with multiple hit points, as a familiar pair of black horns came into being on his, the fox's head. The horns glowed a familiar yellow glow, before the area around the Chemander grew intense. The ground, where it stood, sunk down as a force exerted over its general area.

The Chemander was quickly finding itself hard to stay upright.

"Oh yeah, gravity spell for the win!" The mare couldn't help but exclaim, Shining feeling the same way, before he noticed something wrong.

From where he stood, the air around the Chemander looked intense with the spell in effect. Random appearances of deep dark lines and purple lights emitting every few moments, but as time went on, the spell began to flicker. It was blinking every other moment, and seemed to lose more force, as time went on.

Naruto had landed, and released his fellow officers, and focused on applying the spell. He shifted back to his normal form, and his eyes twitched every now and then.

He could feel his control over the spell wavering, before he let out a gasp, and the spell died as it lived.

He grit his teeth, as he thought about just _why_ it failed.

'It's still not ready for on the call use,' he thought, watching as the salamander, former chimera, moved its body.

"Everypony, get your plots over here!"

* * *

"Okay, so that didn't work out too well."

"You think?"

Naruto sighed as he heard two officers grumble to one another. A third came in and broke it, but the group were still pretty much behind the feeling.

He could still hear the Chemander shooting slime blasts everywhere, so he knew it was on land.

Shining was off in a corner, currently trying to think up a counter strategy to be used here. Every now and then, his eyes would flicker over to the group of gathered officers, and he'd mumble to himself.

Naruto could see the strange divide that was happening, even if nopony else would notice. So getting up himself, he walked over to Shining's side and sat opposite him.

"Shining? Yo, Shining, you hear me?" he tried, barely catching the blue maned unicorn's attention.

"Um, what? Naruto?" he looked up, and Naruto could see the sweat on his brow. The changeling frowned, before he smiled.

"Shining, think of Cady, and what she'd tell you, if she saw you like this," he said, catching the unicorn off-guard. He did as was suggested, and thought of his marefriend, before smiling slightly. Bringing a finger up to his chest, he twirled it once, and then waved it away.

"Phew, thanks Naruto. I kind of needed that." The ninja grinned before holding up a fist, getting an appreciative fist bump from his friend.

"Now, I do believe we have a counter-attack to make." The current officer-in-charge looked to the blonde, and then to the soldiers on the other side of the small trench they'd improvised.

"I'm trying to lay this all out. I don't want anypony to die on my watch, so I want to make defensive measures as well, but we need to defeat the thing and so offensive measures must be taken."

"Shiny calm your mane man, you're flipping it again." the officer groaned, as he brought his hand back down.

"Right, right...We need to keep it in one place, but if it gets back into the water…" he trailed off.

"It's going to be a pain in the plot trying to get out again." It has acidic properties now, and Naruto wasn't sure if he could try and bring it up without taking some damage.

One downside to losing the Kyuubi, his regenerative abilities took a gigantic nosedive, not something he liked right now.

"Right, so we have to attack in the next minute, or-" the area went silent as the stomping sounds of the beast ended, causing them all to freeze. They then heard the sound.

Shit.

"Get down!"

Lightning blitzed its way through the overhead of the trench, all personnel fell to the floor immediately, as the beam tore its way through the forest. Shining quickly threw up a shield spell as trees fell, and trunks crashed into the defensive construct.

They could hear the pants of the former chimera, as it let out shuddering pants.

Shining looked over to the gathered officers, and looked up at the shield, before turning to Naruto with a determined glint in his eye.

* * *

The former chimera looked on, as it took in the destroyed forest. Its mind wasn't too developed, one of the few of its kind to be that way, especially since it lost its other half.

That said, it thought it did a good job.

"Fire from below!" came a muffled shout from underneath it, causing the beast to snap its head left and right, before the looking down at a growing light.

The explosion that followed enveloped the Chemander in smoke, the blast radius destroying flat land it had been on. Sand glassed over, and was kicked up into the air.

The Chemander screamed an anguished sound, as its legs lost their footing, its bulky appendages flailing slightly.

"Unicorns keep it off balance! Earth ponies are to surround it on all sides, and bring out the chains! I want all available pegasi giving me updates on air currents, and the target's status!" Shining barked out, as he and the rest of the squad exploded out from their cover.

The earth ponies traveled in lines, as they carried a translucent, shining chain. Unicorns were using every available spell to keep the Chemander under fire; Some used fireballs, others used levitation to toss up more dirt and charred rock, and some went as far as to start zapping it with magic shots.

Once the earth ponies were in position, Shining signaled to the unicorns.

"Bring it out of the hole, on my mark!"

As one, all those with magic available to them, stopped their assault on the beast. Their horns beginning to glow, as the former chimera let out roars of pain, and fury, that breached their ears.

"Mark!" Shining's own horn glowing, they all as one grabbed onto the Chemander, before quickly removing it from the hole it was in. They barely lifted it out, before tossing it over to a side of the shore.

"Earth ponies!"

They shouted in affirmation, as they already crossed the distance to the monster, before the chains were hurled to every available part of the Chemander. The beast struggled the whole way, tossing and turning, pretty much making a big nuisance of itself.

Its slimy texture had come back, but it was covered head to toe in grain, giving the chains enough hold on its limbs and neck.

The officers holding onto the chains struggled, as the beast stumbled to its feet.

"The clouds are gathering! It's something big!" Shining could hear from the pegasi, and grit his teeth before he ordered them into action.

"Cut off its horns and put a stop to it!" those in the air nodded.

The three pegasi, before diving, ran past some of the gathered clouds, clutching some of the dark cumulous in their hands, before diving at the Chemander.

The beast was preparing to let off a large blast, its horns flickering with sparks and energy, before it let out a screech as the pegasi cut into its horns.

The pegasi struggled as they pushed their swords further and further into the thick bone extensions. They could see the sparks in between the horns getting brighter, and the tried to hurry it along, the clouds on the handles of the swords could only absorb so much lightning before they became miniature bombs of energy.

"Seems like you guys could use a PUSH!" The swords seemed to flow through the horns, as a pair of blonde changelings found themselves on top of the Chemander. The Narutos put their hands on the blades, before they glowed a blue color that seemed to cancel out the sparks on the sharp weapons. The blades glowed the same color, before they seemingly slipped through the bone like it was butter, removing the extensions.

They flew out the way, as the gathered lightning above the Chemander's head exploded outward, destroying the clones, and extending outwards before being stopped by a shield that covered the entire beast.

Those around the encapsulated beast had to cover their eyes at the light show, before it died down. The creature's wails had turned into whimpers by this point, and it smoldered, as bits of glass and burnt sand fell off its staggering form.

Naruto appeared out of the ground near Shining, and gave the leading officer a nod. As one, both unicorn and changeling charged.

Shining Armor drew his blade. Calling upon the training he'd received from both Fukasaku and Naruto, he enhanced his body with the flowing energy within him. Next, as he ran, he summoned a pair of shields that enveloped his sword. The constructs covering both sides, meeting at a sharp point at the edges.

Naruto allowed his right forearm to glow, the bright portion of his limb elongated. The shape curved, before the shine died down and revealed a large membrane-like blade. The blonde's black shelling made up the base as a glowing yellow, sharp edge made up the ends.

They ran as one, the blonde allowing Shining to keep pace, though he was faster than even most earth ponies by this point. As it turned out, the Chemander still had some fight left in it. Even as its form stumbled, it stopped whimpering, and focused on the two approaching officers and shot a blast of corrosive slime.

The two barely allowed it to slow them down, the unicorn allowing a shield to pop up before him, and launching off it, as the changeling monarch went low.

The beast was apparently going to aim higher, only to find several chains wrapping around its neck, tugging it off balance, as the other officers kept from being idle.

Shining Armor allowed one more shield to pop into existence, this one aimed towards the Chemander. He allowed his hooves to touch it, before the shield glowed and shot him off towards it, at a hard to catch speed.

Naruto allowed his chakra to roam freely in his body, more enthusiastically, before his own form destroyed the distance between him and the former chimera.

As one, the two's blades grew, before bringing into and through the beast itself, bisecting it at its waist and center. The halves fell to the wayside, as the pegs merely remained standing.

Shining landed in crouch, as Naruto slid to a stop.

Their work was done.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They had gone back to inform the locals of the deed being done, before walking back to the campsite.

Even as they all walked, limped or otherwise, Shining felt pats of congratulations from his fellow soldiers as they passed them. The unicorn lieutenant blushed under the praise, and Naruto smiled from his side.

Catching the blonde's grinning visage, Shining grinned as well before holding up a fist to his friend.

The fist bump was quickly reciprocated.

 _ **~TCL~**_

She looked on, as the blonde rested in the center. Her violet irises taking in the strange occurrence she'd never truly seen before.

The green, slime like texture of the cocoon that Naruto resided in, was fairly translucent for the most part. She'd already had her protégé come see the blonde on occasion, as well as his students. On more than one instance, she could find Spike in the room the blonde had been given for the time of his rest and change.

She looked out from the railing towards the evening's horizon, her magic's passive effects giving slow rise to the sun. They, Naruto and her, were currently at the top of a tower, a sort of large circular balcony that had a cone at the top to protect those in it from the rain.

Naruto was currently curled up in a ball, eyes closed as they had been for the past month. His form had undergone a few noticeable changes since the start of this process. When he'd told her of his contact with the changelings, and the things he'd learned from them, she was shocked, and intrigued.

The blonde was to still grow, if the changelings' words were to be believed. She had taken notice of some of those changes the blonde was privy to, and some he might not recognize.

As she went over these thoughts, she turned her sight inward on the blonde. More than a couple of times, she'd had several doctors, students and professors come here, with the blonde's permission, of course.

They would check over the spectacle, giving her updates on her… "Friend," which was even weirder now that she'd thought about it.

It had been close to four years since he'd arrived here, and she was surprised to say, they bonded, in a way. They hadn't had the best start, even after two years she'd been cautious with him. She only really started to relax around him in the third year.

For in that year, she'd been able to watch as the blonde taught her adoptive son.

It was more than a little jarring, when the drake spoke of the blonde with such high regard some years ago. Now? She simply smiled amusedly every time Spike would come to her and tell her about his day. He'd tell her of the blonde's lessons, both magical, and philosophical.

To protect those most precious to you, never abandon a friend, preserve life, cherish those closest to you, and so many others. On more than one occasion, she and the little drake would talk at long stretches of time about some of the lessons, after which he'd fall asleep in her arms, like the child he was. Her child.

Focusing back into the present, she remembered one of her professors telling her of his rising consciousness as of late. She could only agree, as she could feel his magic "awakening" as the days passed. That wasn't the only sign though.

Looking farther into the cocoon, she looked at the blonde's horns and pouted slightly. They'd grown for a while, before they nearly matched her own in length. Not that she was insecure! Of course not, that'd be ridiculous!

Ahem.

His horns, as stated before, had grown and along the length of them were large splashes of yellow. The yellow on his head extensions had glowed every now and then since the middle of the month, and have only gotten brighter as the month came to pass.

Eyes roaming downward, she settled them on his right shoulder, where an insignia had seemingly placed itself.

It was an image of a white, round circle, in which lay a copy of the markings that had been on his stomach, in black. If one looked at it at the right angle, the mark might look like a sun, what with the way the black squiggles branched out from the circle.

Oh, she'd find some way to turn that on the blonde, and tease him.

Looking up at the skyline, she felt her biological clock tick, and rose the sun for greeting the day.

Right as there was the sound of something moving around, and breaking behind her.

The Monarch had returned to the land of the living.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how long he'd be in the cocoon. He remembered Lavae and Roamure telling him that the usual was a week, with the longest being close to a month.

He couldn't help but try and stand on shaky hooves, before he felt himself steadied by a soft glow. Looking up, with slightly blurry eyes, he could see the vague form of Celestia.

He cracked a tired smirk. Actual eyes, black pupils on blue iris with blue tinted sclera. Looked back at her.

She smirked at him.

"Welcome back to the world of the conscious, Naruto Uzumaki." He grinned in response.

He looked himself over in the mirror of room. The room itself was rather large, decorative, and overall just too stuffy for his taste.

He heard the door open, and the padding feet of Spike, as the drake stumbled in, a set of clothes in his arms, that he laid on the bed. That done, the drake hopped up on the bed, and grinned that cheeky grin of his, to which Naruto returned with one of his own.

Going back to the mirror, he looked himself over, and took in the new changes.

"I'm not gonna lie. Looking good Naruto," he flexed, "looking _real_ good." He could hear Spike giggling behind him, causing him to smirk.

He looked up at his horns, that now curved slightly with that yellow splotches he could see near the tip. His shoulder's new addition was strange, but not all that unpleasant. Though Celestia could lay off it.

* * *

" _Oh, I didn't know you were trying to emulate me. Well, it only makes sense, no?"_

* * *

He could still remember her hand trying to hide the grin she bore.

Those taken into consideration, he was happy about two very important things. The first being his eyes, which had been something he missed. Being able to distinguish pupil form iris was cool to do again, and while the pupils were a little bit more cat-like, he preferred them far more now than before.

That all fell second, though, to his favorite part of it all.

Looking down at his body, he couldn't believe that it looked…. well _normal_. Mind you, he still had an exoskeleton over it, but it was like the skeleton conformed to him like a skin. The shelling was softer, but he'd bet it was more durable. He could see the contours of his actual body and muscle mass.

No more blocky iron. He was streamlined steel, baby!

Looking down at his abdominals, he ran his fingers over the seal that chose to remain, though now he could feel... _Something_. It was a strange feeling. It might be better to say, he felt "nothing," but he could tell that there was a purpose for it. Something in the back of his mind that was telling him that he could use this "void" to store something.

He'd find out one day.

Bringing his head back up, he saw his "mane" bob backwards, and looked at that too. He could see it was far more hair-like, almost indiscernible from normal manes/hair. His fangs had even receded!

He was liking this metamorphosis more, and more, by the second! The last change, was actually something he wasn't expecting.

Lifting his tail, he looked at the appendage, willing it back to normalcy, but it didn't change. It retained the wire-like shape, with a wicked swirling tip like end. Moving it back and forth, he finally allowed it to rest still.

All in all, he was new and improved. Still didn't have wings though, but he was fine with that. Too many positives to care really at this point.

Done inspecting himself, Naruto walked over to the bed and flopped into it, causing Spike's form to bounce, before he settled into it. The blonde gave the drake's head a rub, before he started to put on some clothing.

He _had_ been only in boxers since this all started. Which made it all the better, after the shower.

He put on the dark blue cargoes that held splotches of lighter blue across the thighs. Next, he put on the orange fingerless gloves, securing the straps on the wrists. Second to last, was a long sleeved grey shirt that was kind of tight around the chest and waist, which he found weird.

Was it just him, or were his clothes slightly smaller than before?

Now that he thought about it…

Standing up, he looked down at Spike, who gave him a tilted bemused expression.

"What? Do I have something on my face? I don't have more gem dust on it, do I?" the little dragon rubbed at his face, his wings moving about in response to his own rubbing.

"Nah, don't worry about it Spike, just a stray thought. Come on, let's go, I'm HUNGRY!" The blonde pat his stomach, only now realizing how hungry he actually was. Spike seemed to dig the idea, and hopped off the bed.

"We can hit up Joe's Donut Shop. He's got some of the best!"

It was as they were about to walk out the door, that it opened, revealing a certain alicorn, and a maid following after her. The two blinked in surprised, as did Celestia and her maid, who was staring up at the blonde in confusion.

Naruto for his part blinked, as he stared eye to eye, with Celestia. Celestia did the same.

*Blink*

*Blink*

* **Blink** *

Naruto couldn't stop the grin that now adorned his face. Celestia seeing it, merely frowned, before huffing and looking away.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They stared. He knew they stared. They knew, he knew, they stared, and so on. Even as he passed by all others, there was never a moment where they didn't stop and gaze up at him.

Coming out of a passageway, Spike at his side, Naruto couldn't help but notice Blueblood. The egotistical noble was currently chatting it up, or attempting to, speak with a certain noble looking mare, who couldn't look more disinterested.

Naruto honestly couldn't care less, so he paid them no attention, even as he and Spike walked past.

Blueblood, for all he was worth, couldn't help but notice that the mare he was courting, had her attention elsewhere. He blinked in disbelief. Impossible, what could possibl-!

He stopped, and stared at the blonde that passed them. Said male was currently wearing a shirt that, even he was unconsciously forced to admit, left very little to the imagination of what laid underneath. His mane was a brush of soft spikes, with two long bangs in the front of his forehead, parted by long, styled horns. At the back, his mane was surprisingly silk-like, and tied, making it look like golden tresses of the finest cloth.

All in all, it was like a male alicorn had just descended, and all attention was on him. Turning back to the mare he was courting, something in the back of his mind broke at the look she sent the blonde.

She was currently fanning herself uncontrollably, as she stared at the well-muscled back of the passing blonde. If Blueblood was correct, which he usually was, he could hear her _panting_.

This was impossible, who could possibly.

"Hey Naruto, you sure nothing weird is going on? Everypony keeps looking at you weird." Came the sound of the little lizard next to the tall, royal-?!

"I don't know Spike, it has been a month since I've seen daylight, maybe that's it. Plus, it's still early, maybe they're all tired?" The blonde haired _soldier_ said with a hint of questioning, even as they continued to walk.

Blueblood merely stood there, mouth agape, as the mare quickly excused herself.

 _WHAT?!_

 _ **~TCL~**_

 **Before anyone says anything! I need to make this clear.**

 **This is part 1 of a chapter, I had to break up into two parts.**

 **Plain and simple.**

 **So we're clear, alright? Alright.**


	5. Tide of Change

_**~TCL~**_

Twilight Sparkle wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling they were in for a surprise today. She heard a tapping and sound, and looked up from her feet to the annoyed gaze of an azure unicorn.

"Come along Sparkle, if Trixie must go to class early, she will be sure to drag you along with her." The protégé of an alicorn blinked.

"But I already go early, why would I NOT?" Trixie actually seemed to think about that for a moment.

"...Let's go Sparkle, Trixie is sure Moondancer is waiting for us." Trixie pushed forward, all the while ignoring the chuckling unicorn behind her.

They'd been traveling the streets of Canterlot for a bit, as was their usual, when they were going to school. They'd meet up with Moondancer at the school gates, maybe swing by to see Spike, and then go to class.

Things were going according to plan, as far as meeting Moondancer.

"H-hey Twilight, Trixie." Moondancer.

"Ah clone, I mean, Moondancer." Trixie.

"Trixie, why are you saying that with such a straight face?! Hi Moondancer," Twilight said.

They had grouped up, talked about classes and decided that maybe they'd swing by to see Spike.

"I've always taken you for a cream filled kind of guy."

"Meh, it can be cool, sometimes. Though I _really_ like the eclairs."

They stopped at the entrance to the main castle chambers. That sounded a lot like Spike, but the voice of the pony he was talking to...It sounded familiar, but they felt like it was slightly deeper than before, for whatever reason.

Waiting around the corner, they peeked, and froze at what they saw.

Maybe it was the sun catching him, it looked like a guy, in the right light. Or maybe it was their minds making them hallucinate.

The tall pony seemed to have a black coat, wearing an assortment of tight top, just barely below knee bottoms, and gloves. A head of feathered yellow looked down at the young drake, as a trail of gold followed behind.

They could only stare, as the being's ears pricked upward, before he turned in their direction. Crystal clear blues eyed them curiously, before they brightened in recognition.

"Ah ha! It's my wayward students!" The being grinned, even as the trio of unicorns' minds took a second to process what he said.

" **WHAT?"**

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto chuckled as he walked with the three, still in shock, fillies. Spike just kept giving the girls weird looks as they walked, even the ponies that came across them would stop and stare for a while.

Naruto waded through it all with a smile, not even acknowledging the passing ponies.

Finally, after some time, the three seemed to snap out of it enough to present an intelligent response.

"Naruto?/Master!/Mr. Uzumaki?" he could hear the plethora of their calls, and merely turned his head to the side to see them. Even now, they couldn't help but keep his enamoring ponytail in view, minds idly tracking it.

"Naruto? As in 'Naruto' Naruto?" Twilight asked, only having Naruto laugh at the question.

"Unless there's another Naruto around, or I have a clone about after it's been so long, then yeah. It's me, Naruto Uzumaki, in the flesh," he stated simply, causing her to blink, before all three of them smiled widely at him.

Trixie, ever the proud one, puffed out her chest.

"Trixie knew master was great. She knew master was powerful, but _this_ ," she gestured to his current form. "She never knew master was this _Majestic_! You've become the dream, master!"

She preened immensely, as he gave her hair a good ruffle, all the while never noticing the slightly envious look of Moondancer.

Or did he? It was hard NOT to notice _that_ filly's particular stare. Giving her a confused looked, she blushed, before quickly pushing his attention to something that wasn't her.

"Um, Mr. Uzumaki, I, uh, like your hair!" she squeaked out, causing him to blink, before he pulled back from the fillies.

Reaching behind him, and pulling at the gold strands he looked at them, and blinked.

"Whoa, okay, now I'm sure I didn't do this." He muttered, something along the lines of "Celestia's idea of a joke" passing from his lips, as they continued their walk.

"Trixie thinks it looks very good on master," the young blue pre-teen stated, her eyes falling from the adult's hair to his attire. "Among other things," she finished with a grin, and a flush to her cheeks.

"Trixie?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion, before noticing that the azure filly gave her a sad, _pitying_ , look.

"Trixie will always worry about you Sparkle. As Trixie's first rival, you're failing Trixie's expectations."

"I don't even know what you mean!"

Naruto the whole while merely shook his head at the antics of the wayward kids, before a thought popped into his head.

"Don't you guys have to get to school?" His question seemed to freeze them in place, before as one they all shouted in unison.

" **We're late!** " Spike facepalmed.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They had gotten up on Naruto as they ran. Well, not really, it was more like Naruto had decided that he was the fast way to get to school.

Which he undoubtedly was.

"Trixie, while amazed at Master's speed, still can't believe he hasn't mastered the Teleportation spell," one Beatrice Lulamoon said, from her on the giant beast's back. Her place behind Spike, who sat at the helm of the transformed changeling, had her keeping her hair out of her eyes constantly.

"Didn't Naruto say it was just too complicated for him?" Twilight said from her place behind Trixie. She studied the glow between her place on Naruto's back with a studious intent. How was he keeping them in place, despite how fast they were moving, or how high they were?

Moondancer, for her part, was simply looking at the bunches of blonde feathers she could feel below her. Her hands spread over an area, feeling it slip between her digits, with an almost outstanding fluidity.

"Forward my steed! We must get the princesses to the castle!" Spike was ever the enthusiastic one, as he held onto the long neck of his bird transformed brother in all but blood.

Naruto merely rolled his eyes, before allowing his speeding form to leap from place to place. All those wandering the castle could only stare, as a bird of some sort blew past them, with a speed that could rival a Wonderbolt's.

Blue eyes, lacking pupils, narrowed in on the approaching school. He allowed his raptor-like feet to tense before he jumped high into the air, form soaring over the castle walls, and landing on the extending bridge to the school.

His passengers screamed, in either joy or terror, as he did this, and he was loving every minute of it.

The bridge had an overarching cover to provide safety to those crossing it, and he currently ran over the top, ponies inside it stopping and staring at the golden bird that passed them.

"We're coming up on the target! Brace for impact!" Spike said, as Naruto made one last jump high into the air. All those on his back, sans Spike, felt their eyes become pinpricks in their seeing holes, at the height.

" **Ahhh!** " came the terrified scream of three fillies.

"Muhahahahahah!" Spike laughed loudly, as they all felt the grasp of gravity hold onto their falling form.

Most in the courtyard blinked as they heard the screaming, before looking up to the meteor of feathers and screaming children in shock. Yet, right as it was about to impact the ground, there was a flicker of purple, and they seemingly floated centimeters from the ground. A pair of dark, yet yellow tipped, horns on the bird's head flashed yellow.

The four children looked around themselves as they felt the weightlessness. Spike looked around, as he felt them touch ground softly. Twilight, Trixie and Moondancer opened up their eyes slowly, not trusting their sight when they saw themselves just barely in the courtyard.

Twilight looked around, before looking up and noticing her mane floating, as well as the purple tint surrounding the group. Her eyes widening as she looked over at Naruto, who turned his neck around to them, and smirked as much as a bird could. She saw the pair of horns on his head, and made the connection.

"You casted a gravity spell?" He smiled in joy, even as he nodded his head. The next moment found him changing in a flash of yellow flame, catching the quartet in a flash and setting them down.

Now ponies were staring for a different reason, much more so the mares around the schoolyard.

"That was so amazing, an- _Hellooo doctor_ ~!" came a voice, causing the quintet to turn their gazes towards an approaching blue filly, with a semi-long mane of dark and baby blue.

Trixie was not amused.

"If Minuette would stop ogling Trixie's master," she stated with a growl, causing the other blue filly to laugh, as she scratched the back of her head. She felt no shame in saying what she thought about what she saw, and what she saw was _good_.

Naruto, ever the oblivious one, simply grinned.

"Hey Minuette, where's Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts?" his question caused the filly to freeze, before her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Wait, wait wait... _Naruto_?" He pouted at this.

"Why does everypony keep asking that? I disappear for one month, and you all act like I'm some different changeling," he said out loud, only to receive stares from four of the five children in front of him.

He actually began to feel a sweatdrop forming form their gazes, before Trixie sighed, and pat him on the arm.

"It's okay master, one day, you'll understand." He felt himself deadpan at this, as all the girls of the group nodded sagely. Turning to Spike, he looked for support.

"What did I miss?"

"Not a clue, I'm as stumped as you are."

" **Boys** ," the girls said in unison, causing the both to blink.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Coming back to the Light/Velvet household, Naruto wasn't sure what to expect when he got there.

Knocking on the door, he waited with Spike to be let in. He'd have used his key, but…. he kind of lost that before going through his change.

He watched as the door opened to reveal Night Light, ever the same as of a month of ago. That said, one look at him, had the stallion gaping.

"Who-Who?" he looked to the blonde's side and saw Spike waving, and put two and two together.

He gaped _harder_.

"NARUTO?!" he damn near screamed, causing a rushing to come from within the house, before Twilight Velvet popped out from within.

"Naruto?! Where...is…. he?" She stared as well, mouth dropping wide open, causing Naruto to sweatdrop.

That lasted all of a second, before he felt an iron grip upon his bicep, and he felt terror grasp onto his very soul.

" _ **Shopping,"**_ Twilight Velvet seemed to hiss, steam shooting from her mouth. Her dark visage only seemed to darken further, as she actually gave the bicep a good few squeezes, and that grin became HORRIFYING.

Seriously, it had to be hair, right? He was blaming it on the hair.

Fuck this hair!

 _ **~TCL~**_

Shining laughed and rolled, as he looked at his blonde friend flopped over his bean bag.

Wiping a tear from his eye, the unicorn brother of Twilight stifled his laughs to snickers.

"Oh, oh that's RICH." Naruto glared at him.

"Nice to know you enjoy my suffering."

"Only if it's you. Naruto, seriously, how can you NOT get why this is happening." The blonde threw him an annoyed look.

"Well then wise guy, why don't' you TELL me!" Shining simply shook his head in the negative.

"Nuh-uh, if you can't realize it by this point, me telling you isn't going to help." Naruto sent him a betrayed look, which only caused his silky strands to flicker in the light being let into the room.

Shining could only imagine what Cadance's face would look like when she saw their fellow adult. He couldn't even imagine what Derpy would... think…

It should be noted that Shining "Sparkle" Armor had just had an idea.

A horrible, wicked idea.

Naruto saw the grin on his fellow male's face, and felt a similar horror to when he'd been dealing with the stallion's mother earlier.

"Shining~ I'm here~ Why did you have...Spike...send...me…" In came Cadance, in all her pink alicorn glory, who froze upon seeing her blonde friend, after his long month of absence. She stared, mouth wide open, as Naruto waved at her.

"Heya Cady, guess who's back?" he grinned, only to notice something was off. "Um, Cady? Cady~ Why are you looking at me funny?" The changeling slowly began to feel a cold grasp on his heart, as the alicorn's eyes seemed to shine a chill-inducing light.

Shining's grin grew just as madly.

So when Naruto felt a grip on his shoulders, enough that he felt like circulation was being cut off, damn alicorn strength, he knew he was done.

" _ **Clothing...Photos~**_ " Why the hell did every mare have this weird ability to _do_ that?!

Seriously, _fuck_ this hair!

* * *

"Oh mom, look! Naruto sent something back! Maybe he's done with his month-long assignment?"

"That would be the only reason, right? Come on Dinky, I'm sure sis thinks the same."

"Hold on, hold on, oof!"

"You okay sis?"

"Ahehe, just a little trip, I'm fine! Now let's see what Naruto sent us!"

The three huddled around the slight large, rectangular package, Amethyst already working on opening it up with a pair of scissors.

Their father wouldn't be home till later, but they'd fill him in when he came home.

"Hey Derpy, thanks for the shower. My place being fumigated isn't doing me any favors. What's that? Another package from your _coltfriend_ , hmm?" Golden harvest rounded the corner, a bathrobe on.

Derpy went red in the face, her golden eyes crisscrossing harder in her embarrassment, as she tried to deny any such thing.

"It's not like that! We're just really good friends!" Golden gave a look of sly amusement.

"Right, and I'm NOT a natural redhead. Face it."

"But it's not-!"

"You seem to always have _that_ look, when he's around."

"You didn't-"

"Plus I know how much you _love_ when he's around Dinky."

"Me and Naruto always play lots of games! When he brings Spike over, it's like never-ending fun!" Came the cry of the smallest of the four, causing Golden's mouth to crack a smirk, and Derpy's face to start resembling a tomato ripe for harvesting. Amethyst wasn't helping her case.

"Then you have to take into account, all the secret little imaginary worlds they come up with together. What was the last one? I think it had something to do with a space adventure, with a pair of blonde bounty hunters, hmm~"

Derpy's face couldn't handle it, before steam shot out of her ears, causing those around her to laugh, or in Dinky's case, look on in concern.

Taking initiative, the smallest popped open the box in her elder sister's hands, before squealing in delight at the smaller package that fell out. Tearing it open, she grinned at the title.

 _Destiny/Stuck Daylight: The Harbinger's Feel_

She wiggled in delight.

"Spike you're the best!" she hugged the book to her chest, much to the amusement of those in the room, before they noticed another package fall out of the box, along with a letter.

Amethyst picked up the letter, and read it out loud to those listening, while Dinky set her book down, and looked at the smaller item.

Square shaped, and decently content-filled, she popped it open and looked at the pictures, she found within.

"Hey guys, hoped this reaches you all well. I wasn't planning on sending out a letter so soon, but Cadance and Junior Officer Shiny thought it'd be a good idea.

They, and everypony else has been acting kind of weird, ever since I got back. Not sure why. I think it's the hair. You'll see what I mean.

Anyway, hope this reaches you. Your friend, Naruto. P.S. The two of them say 'hi,' but I think they're doing it to mock me."

That said, they were wondering what he meant, before they heard Dinky.

"Naruto grew out his hair? It looks really nice,"

They snapped their heads in Dinky's direction, to see her shuffling through a couple of pictures with a smile on her face. Proceeding to look over her shoulder, they looked down, and felt their brains stop in a harsh fashion.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I like the one with the blazer."

All who were female, and above the age of 6, would agree, wholeheartedly as they felt their faces grow hot.

Which wasn't the only "hot" thing in the room.

The first photo, had been tame, but nonetheless tantalizing.

Naruto stood in dark blue cargoes, a grey long sleeve, and was wearing orange gloves. All that was fine, but he looked so drastically different compared to last time, that it threw them all for a loop. He seemed to have been whipping his head around to look back at the camera, causing the long silky strands he now had to flicker in some form of light. That, combined with the seemingly very tight clothes, was one thing. The definition underneath, though, that could be seen on the other hand.

"Sweet Celestia, he's is _fit_." Amethyst couldn't help but state in a daze, the other two elder mares nodding dumfounded.

The next pictures were all of the blond in different outfits.

One had him in a form-fitting shirt with shorts, both black, and a white and gold fur-coated short jacket. He looked at the camera with a grin, before presenting them a "V" with his fingers.

Another had the blonde in a black suit, pressed and clean cut. He seemed to be wearing a tie, and was tugging on it, as Shining leaned on his side, wearing a matching one. Both of the two wearing a pair of shades, hair slicked back.

The third had Naruto and Cadance, strangely enough, in togas. Reefs in their hair, they seemed to be acting out a scene from a picture Golden Harvest may have seen once.

The last normal one held Naruto in a long sleeve orange dress shirt, and dark slacks. The top two buttons of his shirt remained undone, leaving his beginning pectorals to be showing, as well as a blue and orange necklace, Derpy had gotten him on one of his past birthdays. This one had the blonde's ponytail slightly braided, as he looked at the camera from a lower angle, leaning on a desk prop.

Those were fine, great even, though Amethyst rumbled that she could do better.

What followed next, had them sending Dinky to go and "find" a pair of long lost socks.

The temperature in the room seemed to blast up immensely, as a blonde wearing nothing but a pair of white shorts, and a scarf. Said shorts were dangerous, _very_ dangerous, as they revealed the "V" leading down from the changeling's abdominals to the shorts waistband.

Mentally, all three let out a whine at this, Derpy the most, as their minds seemed to sink further beyond the gutter.

The next had Naruto mid-way through taking off his shirt, giving all the more emphasis on the blonde's muscular torso, and abs.

Golden Harvest would admit, she may have drooled a bit, right then and there.

The final one, left a room of unconscious mares, with completely red faces. Dinky came back in, with a face of disappointment at not finding the lost sock, only to blink at the scene.

Going back over to the pictures on the floor, she stared at the for a moment.

"Is Naruto going to be a cowcolt, for next Nightmare Night? Why's it say "I'll give you the ride of a lifetime" underneath?"

What followed three mares waking up, was a filly with too many questions, and another fit of unconsciousness.

It was needless to say that Derpy kept THAT particular picture, under her pillow.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Derpy, please, I'm sorry!"

"Go away, Naruto!" there was a slam, before a dejected Naruto came around a corner, and flopped into their couch. He long since dropped his transformation, after they had just come from outside.

Dinky, and Spike, looked on in worry, as he began to groan.

"Way to go, bug-boy, way to fu-plucking go," he almost cursed, but remembered where he was. In a corner of the room, lay four coats, one drenched to the bone, along with a soggy hat and eyepatch. Next to the coats, were four pairs of skates.

Naruto gave the two a strained smile, before he sighed, and took a look around. Eyes landing on the wet ice-skates, and other articles of clothing, he groaned again, before standing back up.

"Guys, just...chill for a bit. I don't think Derpy wants to see me right now," he said, only to leave just as quickly, the kids barely nodding in confirmation before he was gone.

The two looked to one another, as the changeling left down the staircase. They could hear the flicker of flames, as he transformed right as he touched the street.

"I don't like this," Spike said simply, Dinky nodding next to him, with a sad expression.

"Mama wasn't happy at all." Spike rolled his eyes slightly. Wasn't that an understatement.

They'd just gone ice-skating, and both the adult blondes weren't the best at it. Naruto because he didn't know how to, and Derpy because she was just uncoordinated. She'd made sure to tell them, as much, but Naruto had pushed her into going.

Ponies had laughed at the both of them. Naruto had brushed them off. Derpy had tried to, but there were more than her fair share of jeers. Some of them had been her peers from high school, so they knew exactly how to get under her skin.

When she tried ignoring them, they decided that getting physical was easier.

One moment of Naruto not being nearby, and they'd corralled her over to some thin ice.

No one wanted to stay after that, especially when Derpy had been laughed off the ice.

Spike snorted, a puff of dark smoke escaping his nostrils, as he remembered Naruto running off after Derpy. He remembered when Dinky had gotten off the ice, that he'd had basically enough of them being laughed at.

One large gout of flame later, they didn't need to worry about skating on ice anymore. He remembered the feeling of smugness he'd felt upon doing so and watching the ponies scramble for it.

He then felt guilty because of the talk with Naruto after.

There'd been other ponies on that ice who hadn't been a part of it. Not only that, but they didn't know if anybody over there couldn't swim.

He remembered Naruto's words.

* * *

" _Life's not fair, Spike. We can cry about it all we want, but we can't change that."_

" _So we're just supposed to let what happened, go? Derpy could catch a cold, or something worse! They don't care, so why should we!"_

" _Because two wrongs don't make a right!"_

" _Well what if I don't want to be right?!"_

" _Then you're just as bad as they are. So tell me, do you want to be like them?"_

" _..."_

* * *

Dinky looked on as Spike stared into the fireplace, mind elsewhere.

She looked on at her dragon friend, as his wings twitched every now and then, before she stood up.

Spike watched her go, before looking back into the flames.

Several moments later, he began to hear sounds.

* * *

She simply sat there, back to the door, as she listened to Naruto shuffling away. Her mind not in its right place, as she tried to stuff down the turmoil.

"I told him, but did he listen? No, and now I looked like a fool in front of everypony."

She allowed her eyes to roam as they pleased, not bothering to control them. Moving her head around the room, she let them settle on the pictures on the walls.

Several were of her with her family. One with Dinky and Amethyst, another with her and Dad, one with her, Golden Harvest and her sisters, and one with just her and her best female friend.

There were plenty others, times of when she and family could spend some time together.

One of the last photos she focused on, was one with her, when she was younger, along with a short-for-her-age unicorn mare. The mare was smiling, as she held the shoulders of the younger Derpy, while a small bump in her tummy was pronounced by her dress.

"Mom…" she wasn't going to lie about it, losing their mother had probably been the biggest mark against her, since childhood.

Their father had been a wreck, but he tried to pull through for all three of them. Her, Amethyst, and the barely born Dinky.

Dinky knew to introduce her to ponies as her big sister, but they all knew that the filly considered her, Derpy, as her mom. Sisters they may be, but the age gap put them in different rungs, so to speak. Dinky just decided that Derpy fit the rung of both "Sister" and "Mom."

She sighed, before she turned her head to the last picture, it was one that caused her to wince, due to the recent event.

It featured Naruto and her, the both of them wearing a uniform of the Moxy Pot, as they gave a welcoming gesture to the eating place. Naruto had come over a year ago, and well, they were down one person. It wasn't a problem, but the blond recommended his services, for no charge, and well they had a picture to commemorate it.

Looking it over once more, she sighed and let her head fall to her knees, before the sound of pans and the like clanking, reached her ears.

* * *

 _ **Play: 18 Years by Daughtry~**_

He could feel the cold air biting at his outer shell, and realized it was a stupid idea to leave a house _without_ bringing his coat.

So much for dramatic, "cool" exits. Not that anything behind his exit was supposed to be cool.

He sighed, releasing another frosty breath. He was thankful for the fact that, at the very least, he had worn a slightly thick long sleeve shirt. Rubbing his colorful gloved hands together, and peering down the orange top he wore, he swore silently.

"Why didn't I listen?!" he knew some ponies were looking at him weird, but he didn't care honestly, not then, and not later.

He rubbed the space between his eyes, before continuing on, and roaming the cold city streets. Regardless of his earlier outburst, and noting of pony passersby, there weren't that many ponies in the streets to be noted. He could see that things had trickled since the coming of the Fall season, with an abnormally large cold front coming in.

"Seriously, what are those weatherponies doing?" he muttered, and he shoved his hands into his pockets, and scrunched his head lower, into the neck of the orange top. Walking on, he simply allowed the noises of Manehattan to swallow him, before he ended up once more at that oh so important park.

Where it all started.

Taking a look up at the cloudy sky, it could have been maybe evening. He remembered that they went out to ice-skate in the afternoon, so pretty much.

He walked down the path.

* * *

Derpy stepped out of her room, rounding the corner to find a surprise waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Now just pour it into the pan. Slowly, slowly, aaannddd Done!"

"Thanks a lot, Spike! I'm sure Sister and Naruto will-Ma-Sis!"

"Huh?!"

What she found were a pair of children, covered slightly by flour, pouring a batch of something into what looked like a muffin tin.

Looking over the kitchen, she could see a couple other things were set out; A large tea kettle was set up by the stove, a bowl of jam, and some butter.

She looked to them in confusion, before Dinky escaped from Spike's clutches, as he held her up to fully see the stove stop, and ran to her.

Embracing her mother figure, Dinky looked up at her with concerned eyes.

Derpy looked more than confused.

"What's going on here? Dinky? Spike?" she looked over to the drake currently putting things away in the sink, before he began to wash them. He did this as if it were a practiced motion, as he and Dinky answered her.

"We were making some muffins for you and Naruto." Dinky started, causing her to look down at the youngest in surprise.

"What?" Spike pipped in.

"It was really Dinky's idea, but as soon as I saw her having trouble doing some of the things, I pitched in. I can say that neither of us want you guys fighting," the male in the room said, as he turned on the faucet, his long sleeve scrunched up to the elbows.

Derpy frowned at this, causing Dinky to look up at her.

"I love what you guys are doing, but me and Naruto...it's not like I hate him," she couldn't, she wasn't sure if it was possible, unless he fully betrayed her.

"Yeah...but this isn't just to get you guys talking, but it's also a way to try and get Naruto apologize in a normal fashion, or at least a place to start," Spike said back to them, his wings twitched every now and then.

"Huh?" came the pegasus of the room's confused response.

"Naruto...he's the best big bro I have, not including Shining. We connect on a level I'd like to think, but when he's in a fight with someone...he's got a hard time trying to make things up between them. At least if their female," Spike said, as he stopped washing the dishes to cup a hand to his chin. Never noticing the suds on his hand going to his chin.

Dinky giggled, and Derpy did her best to keep her lips in a thin line.

"I know, Naruto's headstrong, so subtle isn't really his forte," they'd been friends for so long, it was hard NOT to know this about him. Biggest example? When Dinky's birthday had come up and he was free.

He bought them a clown, a large pizza that could take up a table top, and the largest plush bear she'd ever seen. She was sure, that he'd done this all in one day, too.

His excuse?

* * *

" _I couldn't find a bigger bear, so I brought the clown. Wait, why are you laughing? Do you know how hard it is to find a clown on short notice?"_

* * *

She sighed.

"But that doesn't mean he should just force ponies along when they clearly don't want to." she said, causing Spike to stop, as he was finished drying the dishes. He shrugged in response.

"Naruto means well; he's just got a hard time going slow with some things." Spike replied, as she let her shoulders slump.

Dinky looked up at her, before she blinked.

"Wait, didn't Naruto leave?" she asked, causing Spike to look at her weird.

"Uh, yeah? That was the whole point of doing this when they weren't noticing Dinks." she shook her head.

"No, I mean, he left without his coat," she explained, causing the other two to blink, before their eyes widened.

Derpy looked back over to the living room where a set of coats were, and low and behold, there was the male blonde's coat.

Looking at it, and remembering him leaving, she let go of Dinky, and walked over to it.

She picked up the coat, before placing it on herself, and walking to the door. She picked up a large scarf that was hanging off the back of the foyer door, and looked back to the two children in the hallway.

She smiled at them.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

He walked over to the park bench, eyes focused on the road below. Stopping for a moment, his mind played images of their meeting, and he smiled at it.

Looking at the seating, park furniture, he saw the images of a changeling sitting on the floor, with a sleeping, pegasus mare laid on the bench.

He imagined the two, as they chat, the small freak out of the mare and the changeling offering a helping hand.

It all started with a fall, too.

"Oof! Owie."

Yeah, just like that…?

His mind returned to the present, as he looked to his left, where a mare lay on the ground. Her grey wings twitched from their places on her back, coming out of a familiar looking white and red jacket.

The grey coated, pale yellow maned, mare sat up. Her golden eyes crisscrossing, before they chose that moment to focus in on the changeling who looked down at her with a shocked expression.

He quickly got down to her level.

"Derpy, what are you? Wait, no better yet, are you okay?" he checked her over, before sighing as he only saw a few smudges of dirt. She gave him a confused look, before noticing the small amount of frost on his exoskeleton, or the transformation's outer shell.

Now that she thought about it, she looking around, she was sure this was beyond familiar. Minus the frost.

He saw her looking around, before he smiled.

"Uhm, are you okay? I didn't mean for that to happen! I didn't think there would be anypony out this late, and..." She looked at him in confusion, before her eyes brightened the way he liked.

"Mondomezza!" she announced, jumping to her hooves, scarf flopping from its place around her neck, causing it to move out of place, obscuring her vision. She was about to move to change it, before she heard a chuckle and felt it being rearranged.

Her eyes came free last, as Naruto untied it, and grinned at her.

"Oh so you DO remember." she gave him a close eyed smile, before nodding.

"Of course I do, I could never forget." Her words caused him to blush slightly, only making it more obvious against the frost covered exoskeleton of the changeling's disguise. She looked him over, as he let out a small sneeze, before she took the scarf from his hands, and proceeded to wrap it around his neck.

Stepping back, she gave him a smile, as his ears went skyward before relaxing against his skull.

Looking at her handy work, he rose his eyebrow at her.

"Oh so you get to keep my coat?" she smiled at him, tongue breaching the side of her curved lips.

"You still deserve some form of punishment." He frowned a bit, his mood dipping slightly.

"Derpy, I'm…" he tried to say, before she simply shushed him with a "Shhh" gesture.

"I know. Just, promise me next time, you'll listen to me. Okay?" he looked at her, before he smiled softly.

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh look who it is! It's the ditz and her freaky coltfriend!"

"A freaky moment for a pair of them? Celestia, I want to gag."

"We came out here to find that dumb lizard that gets our girls soaking wet, and we find this show?"

Looking to the path, they found themselves in the audience of none other than the mares who'd been giving Derpy a hard time on ice, and her subsequent ice bath.

The four mares, were accompanied by just as many, if not one more, stallions. Said stallions were seemingly sizing him up in that moment, before the one that spoke before turned to one of the mares.

"I thought you said, it was some lizard runt?" she scoffed, before crossing her arms, and pointing at them.

"Forget the freaky brat. It'd be easier to deal with the prey in front of us." Naruto, hearing her words, felt himself blink before he pointed at himself.

"They talking about me?" Derpy frowned, trying to use some of her hair to cover her left eye.

"Just ignore them, we need to go bac-"

"No pony is going anywhere, until we get what we deserve!" Naruto gave the loud one a flat stare, before responding.

"I thought you did earlier, when my little buddy gave you your bath earlier. Obviously, that wasn't it." The leader of her little clique seemed to flinch back at this, before growling at him.

The stallion next to her, didn't seem to approve of the blonde changeling's words either. He was a big earth pony, but his run towards the blond ate up a decent amount of distance.

"That's right, kick his plot!"

So they were all surprised, Naruto included, when the stallion was stopped. He'd gotten close, and reached his hand forward to grab the collar of the ninja's coat, only to find his wrist seized in a painful grip.

Following the grip to the right of the changeling, found Derpy holding onto the stallion. Before anybody knew what happened next, said stallion was brought to the floor, before finding his arm brought harshly behind him.

"I try to live my life ignoring you, and you attack my friend. For somepony who loves calling me "retard," you sure aren't too smart yourself." Derpy's words barely registered to the shocked mare's group, when they did she shouted at them.

"Bitch, you obviously don't know your betters. Mace get your plot up! You wanna be a Royal Guard so much? Then get off the floor, and kick her off!" the stallion, who Naruto assumed was Mace, struggled to try and get up, only to find that Derpy had a tighter hold on him than was originally thought.

"I, I can't!" Derpy looked up to Naruto, and the blonde smiled before moving over a few feet.

The next moment saw a stallion go flying back towards his group, and landing on his back with a groan. The bullying party looked up, to see the two blondes standing side by side.

Looking to try and leverage the situation in her favor, the leader mare tried to mock him.

"Oh wow, so you have to have a mare do all the heavy lifting, do you? Some stallion, or whatever freaky pony you-" he interrupted her.

"Man, you love hearing yourself talk don't you?" she looked appalled.

"Don't interrupt you dic-"

"And I've stopped caring. Look, are we gonna do this or what? It's cold out here, so can we hurry this up? -ttebayo," Naruto already didn't like this mare, and she was insulting him and Derpy before?

He was losing both interest, and patience.

"Your coltfriend is currently lying on the floor, and somehow I doubt the two behind you are any more of a threat. Heck, the "lizard runt" from before would have no problem stepping all over you." A lie. He hadn't trained Spike to that point yet, but he was planning on it. The drake could still shoot a mean fireball and spell sword though.

"Mace, I don't care anymore, kick both of their plots, RIGHT. THIS. INSTANT! You four as well, what are you standing around for?! Beat them UP!"

Mace got off the floor, with a shake of his head, before growling at them.

"You're gonna wish you didn't do that! I was just gonna beat up your little friend here and maybe Missy might have laid off, but now, I'm doing this for me! Araaaa!" With that said, him and the other four stallions behind him ran at them.

Naruto looked at the approaching all-earth pony posse, before turning to Derpy. The cross-eyed pegasus was getting into stance, before he put a hand to her shoulder and walked forward.

To the running stallion squad, it looked like the bug-pony had decided to take them all on, in some laughable attempt of bravado. Stupid and idiotic, yes, but they'd give him some points here. Maybe he'd get Missy to go ea-!

Mace choked, as the blonde male clotheslined him, causing him to flip harshly. In the time he was in the air, he could only watch in upside down vision, as the blonde systematically brought down the rest of them, before he hit the floor.

Naruto simply looked down at the fallen stallions with an expression closer to pity than disgust. Missy didn't seem to be all too happy with the predicament either.

"He's one freak! Get off all your asses, and beat his!" She was frenzied at this point, before Naruto simply laughed in her face.

"Man, you guys have some really bad marefriends, sweet Celestia. Do you ever close that mouth of yours?" he made mocking motions with his hands, incensing her and her posse to no end.

To put the final nail in the coffin, he reached down into his pockets, before retrieving his badge.

"I'll have you know, that as a registered Royal Guard, I have all the right to put you all under arrest for attempted violence against an authority figure." All eyes widened, as he flashed them the certified badge of the Royal Guard, a small gold seal floated above it.

Celestia's seal.

"T-t-that's not-!"

"Not real? Oh you of little intelligence! Do you not recognize the Cutie Mark of your own ruler? And you on the floor, I can make it pretty hard for you if you wanted to get into the Royal Guard. I wonder what Captain Sail Wind, Morse Code, or Angle Feather would think of ponies with a record, hmm?" He saw two ponies' eyes widened, one of them being this Mace fellow.

"Y-you know-"

"Of course I know the captain! I'm from Canterlot, and in the Royal Guard! Naruto Uzumaki, Junior Officer of the Royal Guard!" Mace's eyes widened even further, before he the rest of the stallions scrambled to get off the floor and away from the blonde.

"Get back here Mace!"

"Sorry sweet cheeks, we're through!"

"Arggh!"

"Now what to do with you three, hmm?" they heard a voice near them, causing all four mares to jump. They turned to find the blonde changeling standing there as if nothing had even happened.

Buffing his nails mockingly, Naruto continued.

"A preconceived attack on a minor is one thing, a recognized and acknowledged attack on an individual pony is another, but both together? I can't get you lifetime in prison, but I'm definitely sure that'll net you some time in the local jail. I'd say, I don't know, three months at the least." His words caused them to freeze, before the girls behind Missy started to run.

"We're not a part of this! It was all her idea!"

"Nooooo! Missy's the one that planned all this, I just wanted a movie!"

All said and done, Missy was the only one left on the bullying side.

Naruto was ready to go over, and hammer this nail into the coffin some more, but was stopped by a grey hand. Looking over, he saw Derpy give him a shake of the head, before she turned to Missy.

"You can call me all the names you want, but in the end you're the only one who's gonna be left all alone. Bye Missy." Her piece said, she began to walk off, Naruto following behind her.

Left alone, Missy simply growled at everything falling apart around her. She screamed to the heavens, before she heard another laugh behind her.

Looking to see who would dare do so, she froze when she caught sight of that freak blonde from before.

Naruto's clone finished his laugh, before he narrowed his gaze on her. The next instance found Missy's personal bubble broached.

"I'm going to make one thing clear. Go after any one of my friends, family or precious ones, and I will personally be the one to bring your ass in. And believe me, I won't make it pleasant." He emphasized his point by allowing his arm to lash out sideways, away from her. A nearby light pole slid sideways, before it fell to the ground beside its base.

He gave her one more glare that froze her heart, before disappearing into the shadow of evening.

* * *

Naruto blinked once the memory hit him, and he complained about "AWOL clones" under his breath.

Derpy looked to him in confusion, before Naruto shook his head in the negative. She shivered slightly, remembering that one, she had been cold dunked earlier, and two, she gave the scarf to Naruto. Her neck did feel decidedly colder than before.

Naruto watched her rub at her neck out of the corner of his eye.

Derpy rubbed the nape of her neck once more, before she found a body far closer to her than it was before. Not only that, but there was a fluffy warm object now encircling her neck. Looking up, she found Naruto had closed the distance between them, and had part of the scarf around her own neck.

Naruto was looking forward, when she looked at him. He was slightly leaning to her direction, considering he was just a few inches taller than her in this transformed state.

"You seemed cold, but there's only so much scarf to go around. Plus, you ARE warm, and I could use the warmth." He gave a playful grin. Her cheeks heated up, but she didn't stop him. She went so far as to make sure her arms had a secure hold on his own.

This left two blushing blondes to walk back to her house.

It wasn't bad, though. Not at all.

 _ **~TCL~**_

When they got back to her house, Derpy could smell the muffins from the door.

"Mmm." Naruto grinned at the enthusiastic expression on Derpy's face.

"Somepony wants a baked good, no?" She nodded her head in hunger, the scarf making the action looked far cuter than it should have been.

"Welcome baby bear, and Naruto-my don't we look comfy? _Hmm~?_ " Out came Rolling Barrel, a muffin in hand, before he took notice of the pair's current circumstance with a wiggly eyebrow.

The two almost-adults felt their cheeks burn under the question, before being shuffled inside.

They found themselves in the eyes of Amethyst, home from school, and the smell coming from within the kitchen.

They walked forward, to enjoy a day with their families.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Look deep inside of you. Don't let anything interrupt you from your focus, and allow yourselves to be carried by the 'rhythm' of your magic."

He walked along several wooden poles, put there by himself, as he encircled his current "students".

Each of those he circled sat on a stump, or a mat in some cases. His own eyes closed, as he split his focus in three directions.

One on the pole he was on, another on the next pole, and the third on the "center" he had to circle around. He tasted the emotions of slight irritation, serenity and calmness radiating off each of them.

Derpy sat on a stump in front of the pole he was currently passing, and he was forever thankful that his eyes were closed.

Should they be open, he'd be too distracted if he looked at her even once. The feeling of "weather" was something he was getting good at taking in.

Next, he felt the feeling of "flame" and nodded his head at Spike, and the slight irritation waving off of him. He too was on a stump.

The last two were his best, and considering who one of them was, that was kind of funny.

Shining Armor, and Dinky sat next to each other, Shining on stump, and Dinky on a mat.

Standing on one more pole, he spoke once more.

"Okay guys, you can relax now."

His words were like magic themselves, as each of the five let out a deep breath, with Shining recovering the quickest, and Derpy right after him.

Those outside of this little "Session" now approached the group with curiosity. Naruto could see the princess on the outreach of the Canterlot garden, looking on at Spike with an uncertain frown.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but what you're doing for Spike and Derpy...it's _fascinating_!" commented Twilight, as she, Trixie and Moondancer stood back by a tree. This had become their de-facto meeting place of sorts. It had been a long while, since coming here had become routine to those who lived in Canterlot of their little group.

"Trixie wishes she could join, but alas Sparkle would drive the rest of her friends to tears, should Trixie not be nearby to stop her ramblings." Twilight gave the most ego-driven of them all the stink eye, before she smirked an un-Twilight like smirk.

"I don't seem to remember that being the case when we had that science experiment. Oh, what was it again? Oh, that's right, turn the ingredients into _bread_!" Trixie looked off to the side with a nervous cough.

"T-Trixie still passed."

"It _came alive_!"

Moondancer finished writing something on her piece of parchment, before it went into the backpack on her back, and she contributed to the conversation.

"I thought she passed because the teacher said, and I quote 'It's a magic marvel-Ahhh!' right before he was attacked?"

"See, this is why Trixie favors Moondancer. This is why she's her favorite rival."

"Oh please."

Naruto merely looked at them with a smile, before turning back to his "group", and doing his damndest to ignore just how curvy Derpy's rump was.

There was nothing more sinful than a mare with that kind of rump, in _spandex shorts_.

He mustered up all the ironclad fortitude his mind would lend him, even as Derpy came his way with that cute smile of hers that _drove him crazy_.

"S-so yeah, good work guys. Shining, Pa would be proud." The recently turned 21-year-old grinned.

"Oh yeah!"

"Dinky, I'm beyond surprised by the fact that you seemed to be so good at this. I'm just, I don't even know the word for it. I'm just, wow." the filly giggled in glee.

"Derpy, you're getting there. I'm definitely starting to feel the flow of magic coming off you, for sure." she smiled as she slipped on her blue and white track jacket, covering up the tight tank top, and clearing Naruto's mind of that particular distraction.

'Now just keep your eyes off her ass, Naruto. You'll be home free by then.' he thought, as he smiled at Derpy. Turning to his last student, Naruto saw the dragon frowning.

Spike looked down at his claws in confusion, before letting out an irritated breath. Naruto was going to go over, and speak with him, but he was saved the distance, as Celestia made her way over to the dragon herself.

He saw them talk for a bit, before she nodded her head at him, with him reciprocating.

The next moment, they disappeared in a flash of teleport.

Seeing that, he turned his attention back to those who were here. Seeing Shiny off with his little sister, and her friends, he turned his attention on Derpy and her little sister. Making sure to keep only her front in view, he spoke to them.

"I'm happy you guys could come here, I wasn't expecting you being able to, but I'm happy you did. Now I just have to wonder where Amethyst went off to." his question would be answered soon enough, as he heard a pair of familiar, irritating, voices.

Irritating, because one of them just happen to be Blueblood.

"I said, I'm not interested."

"But if you would just give me a chance-!"

"Nope!"

Coming out into the garden, stomping away from a dejected looking, white unicorn with blonde mane.

Those in the garden simply rolled their eyes, as the pink unicorn made it over to her family.

Giving Naruto a flat look, the teenager ignoring the slumping unicorn she left behind.

"Can we please go now? Canterlot really does lose its novelty, once you start dealing with the ponies." she scoffed, as she looked to her sisters.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle, as she said this.

"If you're sisters are fine with, well get the stuff from your hotel room, and I'll take you guys home." Naruto stated, getting a nod from Derpy and Amethyst, while Dinky let out a whine. Naruto gave the smallest Doo a head-rub.

"Time to go home, Dinky."

 _ **~TCL~**_

Seeing them off at the station was always a slightly sad affair, but they knew better.

"It was nice coming here Naruto. You should be sure to come by soon, I'm sure dad, and Golden wouldn't mind seeing you again." Amethyst said, as she gave the blonde a hug, to which he reciprocated.

"Make no mistake, I'll be down there faster than you guys would even know." Oh they would be surprised the next time they saw him.

Letting her go, he found his mid-section engulfed by the body of a small filly.

"Hehe, later Naruto! I'm still sad, that Spike won't be able to see us off, but I'm sure what the princess has to say to him is important." Naruto smiled down at her, before giving her a hug. Pulling back, he tapped her once on the nose.

"I'm sure he misses you too. If anything, I bet he wishes he-" he was interrupted by a small swirl of flame appearing in front of him, before a letter drop out of it.

Looking at it, Dinky picked it up and read it, before she smiled. Another swirl of flame later, there was a book deposited into her waiting hands.

Looking at it, Naruto smirked.

"Didn't take Spike for someone who had _that_ a great timing." nodding her head, Dinky skipped off to her elder sister, leaving Derpy alone with the blonde.

Looking to Derpy, he grinned, before spreading his arms wide and catching her hug, with his own.

She hugged him close, and he her, before they separated, just enough to look at each other.

"Thanks for having us here, Naruto. For the hotel, and the tour." he nodded his head to her.

"No problem, I'm always will to bring you out here, when you want to." she frowned slightly, and shook her head.

"You don't have to do that; you know? I'm happy just having this few moments to spend here," _with you_ were the words she wanted to say, but they failed her in that moment.

He understood though, but just as badly he couldn't say the right words either.

"I get it, it's just," _I always want to see you_ , "I'm sure I want you to enjoy yourself.

 _With you? Always_ , "Then next time...We'll plan something for us to do. When you're not at the Guard, and I have time."

They pulled together one more time, before they heard the train sound off.

"All aboard!"

Looking over to the Conductor, they looked back to one another and, reluctantly, let go.

Separating slowly, Derpy stopped for a moment, before coming over and leaping with a small flutter of her wings to give him a kiss to the cheek.

Both parties, pretty much flushed in the face, she zipped off into the train.

Standing there frozen, as he watched the train roll off.

"The deities above, will you two just kiss already?!"

He ignored Shining's exclamation, even as the unicorn and Cadance came out from around the corner.

"Naruto~!" the princess of love whined. "That was the perfect moment, to pull her back, hold her in your arms, and start, you know!" she made mad gestures with her hands, as if words were not enough to convey her meaning.

Naruto for his part, just felt his face burn even worse.

 _ **~TCL~**_

It had been half a year since he last saw them, and yet, now, with this piece of paper in his hands, he felt forever closer.

Naruto walked the halls of Royal Guard HQ, an area just below the castle.

Were anypony to look at the changeling, they'd see a grinning former ninja holding a couple of papers.

Catching a look at the top of them, the words "Apartment Invoice".

 _ **~TCL~**_

She looked down at the bottle in her hands, the alcohol inside had been some of the strongest she could find. She pulled out a rag, before taking a breath and stuffing it inside it.

She ignored the falling snow, as she walked her way to the target place. She didn't care anymore, and stopped.

The streets were close to barren, mostly from the fact that snow piled high on the streets. In front of her stood that damnable mare's house. She remembered seeing that retard leave with that freaky coltfriend of hers, and decided now would be the best time to do this.

She pulled back, and launched the bottle forward, and left the scene without a second thought.

That night, Missy burned a building to the ground.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They walked side by side, in the cold weather. She looked down at her gloves, before looking up at the sky, in thought.

He looked over to her, before looking up as well, as they stopped in the snow. Their hoofprints leading up from their walk, to the front of an intersection.

"Naruto?" the changeling at her side, turned his head her way, his orange cap bobbing with the motion.

"Yeah?" she looked slightly flushed before, she brought herself a little bit closer, and entwined their arms with one another's. The ninja's face exploded into blue, before he took their entwinement one step further, and did so with their fingers.

They could both feel the heat on their faces, before Naruto tugged Derpy a little bit further ahead.

"Come on, I want to show you the thing I was talking about." he stated, causing them both move forward.

They'd been walking for a bit, she noticed, and yet it was strange that it was towards the more pricy areas of Manehattan.

They'd crossed the crosswalk, just as there was a blaring sound. Naruto felt his ears prick, as they turned their heads to the cross-walk, and saw a quintet of ponies, in uniform rushing off towards the direction they just walked from.

Derpy didn't know why, but she felt something stop her cold, as she watched the ponies pass them. Her eyes trailing the blaring red and yellow aura of the unicorn in the middle.

Naruto felt something was wrong as well, as he looked up, and saw smoke.

'What?'

* * *

She coughed, as more of the bad smoke entered her lungs. She tugged at the arm of her father, the stallion coughing out more of the bad air than she.

"Dad! Please, we have to go!" Dinky cried, as the fire from the kitchen set off the smoke alarms, making her ears ring. She saw her father, Rolling Barrel, crawling to keep up with her.

They'd both been asleep when the fiery destruction had begun to spread. Being in the room at the end of the hall hadn't helped matters, especially when they had a hard time grabbing the burning doorknob.

"It's oka-ergh, kuff! Just keep low to the ground baby-girl." she nodded, as tears reached the corners of her eyes; both from the smoke, and the despair of the situation.

She did the only thing she could, and tried to listen, but when a support beam came falling down in front of the area by the kitchen…

"Mama! Mama!" She cried for her mother figure.

"Mama! Spike! Naruto!" she cried for those, that she wished would save them both in their time of need.

She looked down at her right hand, and looked at the marks on it.

It had been something her and Spike had tried to copy from the books they'd read.

These sigils were supposed to be capable of many things. Speaking through their minds so they could talk whenever, empowering one another so they could handle all the bad guys and last…

She focused on the words form the book, some childish part of wishing at that very moment for those words to be true. The more realistic part knew that it was fake. That those imaginary worlds were just that, imaginary.

In that moment though, she could only believe in those words.

" **Shut(Fill). Shut(Fill). Shut(Fill). Shut(Fill). Shut(Fill)."**

* * *

His mind called him to a stop, as he handled the scrolls in his care. His body froze in the motions, and dropped the parchments all over the floor.

"Spike?"

He didn't hear her, all he could do was stare forward, before something called his mind to his right hand.

Those magic seals, that he and Dinky had painted on the back of their hands, had been more for make-believe than any real reason. They both knew that they couldn't do what they did in the books, though they entertained the thoughts of making their own, one day.

Twilight had even said, it wouldn't be THAT impossible for something like it too exist!

Like in the books, they had drawn them on their hands, but Dinky had said something...interesting.

* * *

" _I want to be able to summon you! That way, we can always talk to each other, and if I ever need help, you can save me right?"_

" _Of course! I'm a dragon, and dragons are big, and strong, and noble, too!"_

" _Yay!"_

* * *

In lieu of that idea, they made a single change.

Instead of Spike having sigils like the "Masters" in the book, he'd have the magic circle for the summoning.

It was so, that he could be called whenever, but it was fake, ever still.

So why…

"Why is it glowing?" he stared at the flickering marks, on his hand. His mind tried to go through all the reasons for it, but they only settled on one.

Dinky was in trouble!

His breath quickened slightly, and he ignored the sounds of the others getting worried.

What could he do, what could he do?!

He thought back to the books, and looked for anything in his memory.

" _Spike!"_ he heard it in his mind, and in that moment he settled on an image.

An image of a knight kneeling to an unsuspecting "Master".

* * *

Allowed her teleportation spell to activate, almost as soon as Twilight had come into her chambers speaking of something wrong with Spike.

What she came upon though, was something she didn't expect.

Spike sat kneeling in the middle of Twilight's room, his eyes closed, as he held a hand to his chest. Stranger still, around him, various random numbers of the books flipped open, before the words from certain pages flew into the air, and swirled around her adopted son.

"Spike!" she called out to him.

He looked up at her slowly, and gave her a small smile.

"I have to help her mom." his words said, he closed his eyes, and spoke a phrase.

" _ **I ask of you…**_

The books floating scripts flew faster, and faster. Lightning sprouted from one specific tome, and bounced to another, before settling above Spike himself.

 _ **...are you my Partner?"**_

Then the next instant he was gone.

* * *

He'd already scooped up Derpy, before he even thought of it. They bounced over the tops of roofs, as he moved faster, and faster, towards the location of the burning home.

"No, no, no, no…" he could hear Derpy muttering, as her eye, not hidden by an eyepatch, shivered with tears, her grip on him alike to iron clasps.

He felt his own heart tear at the sight, before he narrowed his eyes forward, and they blurred across the rooftops.

The next instance, found them in front of a familiar location, that now lay on fire. Ponies lay out on the sidewalks, some in tears, other slightly burned, and others calling for help.

Yet, she didn't see them.

Derpy fell to her knees, as her mind failed to process what she was seeing. Her house, her home, was on fire, and her little sister. Her father, and her baby girl…

"Derpy, stay here." Naruto didn't even think for a moment, his mind too far gone to allow the sight before him to mutter his senses.

He could still feel them in there, and he'd be _damned_ if he couldn't do anything.

" **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

The next instance, there was a hail of blondes, who burst into the home. All transformations forgotten in the wake of the flames.

They surged around and into the burning home. They moved in groups in hopes of mitigating the destruction of most of them, before allowing their bodies to be coated in an orange yellow flame.

* * *

Naruto, the original, burst into the center of the house, eyes frantically moving every which way, before they settled on a broken down beam. He could hear something, coughing!

"Dinky! Rolling!"

"Naruto!" Wait, that sounded like…

No time, no thinking.

He moved through the burning living room, before coating his hand in ravaging wind chakra. He sliced through the wood, and moved forward in the same motion, eyes going down the hallway, before they landed on a triplet of figures.

"Spike!" he lunged forward, as he saw the dragon child, with his wings extended over the fallen forms of two familiar ponies. The drake didn't look too good, as he coughed up another lungful of smoke, but he still shakily raised his head up to the blonde before giving him a shaky smile.

"I saved them, ugh!" his form shuttered, and above him a section of the ceiling began to fall.

In that moment, Naruto's mind didn't even run through the number of options he could use to save the trio. It simply settled on something that would protect them, keep them safe, and most of all, get them out of these flames.

I that next instant, before falling into unconsciousness, he felt something large, wrap around his form; Lifting him, and those underneath him away from harm, and danger, before curling around them in protection.

Something large, and scaly.

* * *

Derpy still didn't register as multiple blonde shot out of the flames, before dispersing into clouds on impact with the ground outside. Left behind were the slightly scorched forms of ponies, of varying ages.

None of them were her family, nor her best male friend.

"Derpy!" she heard the call of somepony, who was it...Amethyst?

She felt arms wrap around her form, as her little sister cried tears, of slight relief. Coming up behind her was Golden Harvest, who looked at the fire in shock, even as more blondes shot out of it.

By some point, every pony had gone quiet, even as the flame s burned and no blonde came out.

'No, no no no no no...' She wouldn't accept this, no, not at all.

Yet, it was in the quiet of this burning fire, that something did ring out.

" _ **!"**_

Something that blew away the flames, in a rapid forceful fashion, before going silent.

Her ears rung, as did a couple other ponies, yet even still, her eyes focused on the now barely flaming building. The front of it bulged, before bursting outwards in an eruption of burning wood, ash and cinder.

The smoking object rolled for a few moments, before coming to a stop, right as the building collapsed in on itself.

Most stayed silent, as they eyed the large oval shaped object, dressed in smoke.

Then it unfurled, and large extensions burst from its backside and blew away the smoke.

A dragon. A purple dragon that stood tall, and heads over those around the site of its crash. It curled in on itself slightly, allowing its eyes to adjust, before it focused in on her.

Blue eyes met a golden one, before it leaned down, and gently opened its arms out.

Releasing three bodies, that had been tucked away within its hold.

She felt her breath hitch, as the forms of her father and sister/daughter fell out of its clutches, along with the confusing form of Spike.

Just then the fireponies came, and the dragon flashed yellow, before out came a familiar blonde in charred clothing.

He gave her a lazy grin, before he too fell.

* * *

When he came too, Spike found his eyes full of nothing but white. He felt the world had become some sort of blurry vision, he couldn't comprehend.

He could hear something muffled coming from the side of him, somewhere.

"H...ine..princ...Smo...in his lungs."

His mind, addled as it was with unsure thoughts and processes, went back to one thing. The one thing he could remember before waking up here.

"The fire!" he sat up in a flash, before he coughed harshly, his hand going to his throat in protest. He wasn't sure who passed him the water, all he knew was that he saw the blurry form of the cup, and got some pills with it.

"At your leave Prin-Ms. Sunny Daze" Spike's eyes snapped open at that, nearly spitting out his water, before he turned to the clearing image of a pink pony, with shiny yellow hair.

Emerald reptilian eyes met a unicorn's dark purple hue, before he looked down to his sheets. He crumpled the sheets in his grasp, before speaking.

"H-hey mom."

"Spike, look at me." he did as instructed, and was hit the full power of a mother's worried state.

While her disguise was seemingly impeccable, he could see through it somewhat. The small amount of lines running down the contours of her nose, to the scrunched muzzle.

"Mom, please I needed to…. Dinky…" he muttered, causing "Sunny" to look at him with concerned eyes.

"Spike, you understand that what you did...I was so worried," he looked up slowly, seeing her closer than before, and watching the expressions she made, made him lunge out towards her.

He wrapped his arms around her midsection, and she allowed his face to press into her stomach, before his shoulders shook.

Enveloped him in her arms, and held him close, as he cried the fear away in her blouse.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Naruto moved away from the door, Twilight in tow, before placing a hand on her shoulder, and leading them back to the others.

Coming back to the waiting room, Twilight ran to her mother, Shining and Cadance, before quietly telling them all of what happened. Naruto moved back to another hallway, though not before catching eyes with Cadance and Shining Armor and getting a nod,

Throwing one back, he continued his way down the hallway, mindful of any passing doctors, nurses or families. He ignored any possible looks his true appearance could garner at the moment, as he made his way to one door in particular.

Knocking on it once, he heard a muffled "Come in", before entering.

Closing the door behind him, he looked at the scene of two hospital beds, one of which held a grown earth pony stallion bearing a few bandages, and the other holding a little unicorn filly. By the beds, in between them on a chair, was a mulberry grey pegasus mare. Her crisscrossed eyes revealed for all the world to see, as she looked over the form of the younger occupant.

If he looked to the right of the door, he would see the sleeping form of Amethyst Star, and Golden Harvest, the unicorn and earth pony slumped into their seats. He grabbed the third chair by the wall, and brought it over to Derpy's own, in between the beds. Sitting down, he simply listened to the beeps of monitors, and the drips of IV's.

He could see a pair of masks on the faces of both of the occupants. Every moment they breathed, there would be the expulsion of some blackened smog that flew down a tube into a glass orb in the middle of the two beds, and gathered in the glass sphere.

Looking away from the glow around the masks, he turned to Derpy, her coat was matted underneath the eyes. Her mane was disheveled from lack of care, and her coat was a duller shade. That said, she was better than she was when they first got here, and he let his eyes wander over to the table in between the beds.

On it lay a bottle of medicine. Medicine that he'd remembered sending down here some time ago, that now lay empty and tipped over.

Turns out that the smoke inhalation would have been a lot worse for Dinky without it. Spike and Rolling Barrel, were a dragon and earth pony, respectively; Regardless of their age, their constitutions were far better, and more built.

Dinky was a unicorn, and a young one at that, she was far more susceptible to dangers of the invasive kind.

Derpy seemed to just register him, and he allowed her to lean into him, as they looked over the two patients.

She pushed herself as far as she could into his shoulder, and the muttered "Thanks you"s, hadn't lost their strength, even now a few days later. He simply allowed her to, she'd been here for the whole stay, up since the beginning.

He remembered going off, and telling her boss the news, and he let her off for however long she needed, with the blonde monarch changeling offering to sub in, if needed.

"..." he heard her muffle something into his shoulder, and turned his attention away from his thoughts.

"The doctor says, that they'll be alright. That come a few days' time, they'll be capable of going home by the end of the week." he listened and smiled at the good news, but felt it fall from his face as Derpy's own visage still held a frown. She sighed at his expectant look.

"We still don't have anywhere to live, Naruto. Golden said she'd be able to hold up with us, but I've seen her place," they both had. One time, he'd spent the whole day with her and Derpy, just chilling out on the orange maned pony's couch.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, before he grinned.

"I have a feeling that that won't be as bad, as you think." she looked at him confused, but he simply shook his head.

"Remember that thing I wanted to show you?" she gave him a confused look, before he unfurled a roll of paper from his pockets.

Looking it over, she looked up to him in disbelief.

"You bought an apartment in Manehattan? But I thought you lived in," he nodded his head.

"Just because I live in Canterlot, doesn't mean I can't live here. I can just as easily take some missions around the area of Manehattan. Before I couldn't do that, but now I've got a few notches on my belt, and such I can take some solo assignments." she still looked conflicted.

"But, you can't hold all of us. Surely not," He blinked at her, before showing her the paper again, and then pulling out another piece of paper.

Holding them together, in front of her, she ran her crossing eyes over them, and blinked.

He held onto her again, as she let out another stream of "Thank you"s into his shoulder.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Whoa."

"Whoa."

"Whoa."

"Hah, "whoa" indeed, come on in gals, I actually still need to check this place out, before I rent out any of the apartments."

They'd spent the most of the next day, actually at the hospital. Checking on Rolling, Dinky and Spike, before leaving in the late evening.

Now, they stood in front of a large building in the more expensive areas of Manehattan.

Taking out a pair of keys, Naruto opened up the front, and went inside. Following after, Amethyst, Golden and Derpy looked around at the interior of the first floor, before seeing Naruto waiting by an elevator.

"Going up?" he said with a grin.

* * *

They walked around the spacious room, eying the large amount of area there was to move around in.

"Naruto, this place is sweet! I see like, two bathrooms in this apartment alone, and three bedrooms. I didn't even know there could even be a room like this in an apartment!" Amethyst's words caused the blonde to buff the end of his digits in pride.

"That's because you won't, at least not until you hit some of the really pricy places. I had the this, and an adjacent apartment room, put together. Breaking the wall down, and just having some circuitry moved around, here and there. Remodeling the rest of it, until it fit my needs," he said to the pink unicorn teen, before they both heard the sounds of wonder from the kitchen area.

"Oh my gosh, I could fit a good amount of juicers in here!"

"There's a good looking view from the balcony, too!"

" **Oh my gosh!** " the two in the living room snickered, as they heard Derpy and Golden, freak out at the apartment.

"I still can't believe you own these apartments now, Naruto!" he saw Derpy come back into the room, Golden Harvest right behind her.

"Yeah, well, I was gonna have to move out of my old place anyway. Didn't want to take up too much space at Shining's parents' house. Besides, I don't mind Manehattan that much."

"The upkeep for this place, is gonna cost a bit of bits though." Naruto gave her a smirk; he could also see Derpy giving a big grin as well.

"Oh ye of little knowledge. I'm planning on doing all the stuff for this place. I'll usually come back at the minimum four times a month, to keep things running." Golden and Amethyst looked at him in confusion.

"Uh, Naruto? You can be as good with your hands as you want, but you're still only one guy."

He grinned wider once more, before crossing his fingers.

The next instance, two pairs of eyes became audience to a group of ten blonde monarchs.

" **You were saying?** " they all said in unison, snickering at the wide eyed expressions on the mares faces, before the original dispersed his clones.

Looking closer at them all, Naruto felt his eyebrow raise, as he saw their faces begin to turn bright shades of red, the likes of which would leave a tomato jealous.

"Uh, girls? Hello? Anypony there?" his words held no effect, as the three mares remained daze.

Ever oblivious to their thoughts going to the gutter, as they remembered a certain photo of the blonde before them.

' **Oh dear'** he was forever unaware of the triplet of thoughts running between them.

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **~Play: Kingdom Hearts Dearly Beloved (Vose Remix)~**_

Manehattan night had fallen, and with it Naruto couldn't help but think about mares currently sleeping in the bed of the enhanced apartment.

He remembered them going to the city, to get some temporary clothes, that they would change into at the apartment. Naruto's being the only one that had the water running at the moment in the building, they took turns, before coming to the sleeping arrangements.

It wasn't even a suggestion at that point, Naruto had just as quickly let the girls have the bedrooms of their choosing, before taking his place on the couch in the living room.

He was laying on the couch the long way, with only a pair of orange shorts on, leaving his upper half open to the world.

Man did the girls turn red, when he came out of the shower, and he still didn't get _why_.

He looked up, in the darkness of the room, before looking over to one of the windows on the far end. Seeing as his remodeled apartment was a somewhere in the higher levels of the building, the very top, he had an okay view of the Manehattan. As it was right now though, the window was one of three that let in some moonlight.

Thinking less about it, he was about to turn over to get some sleep, before he could hear the sounds of hoofsteps.

Turning his head to the right, he saw the shadowed form of Derpy standing nervously by the couch armrest where his head lay. She was dressed in dark blue pajamas, with light blue hem lining.

Looking up at her, he smiled, before getting up, startling her slightly. He patted the area, next to him, and waited for her to sit down. Once seated, they stayed like that for a moment. Minds probably running through all that happened, in the span of a week.

The fire, the hospital, then the apartment, and now here.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling, and wondered all the way back to the beginning.

A simple changeling cursing his failure at love in the center of a park. A mare who was coming back from a bad experience with her co-workers. Both slightly buzzed, and meeting under the most unusual of circumstances.

He jumped slightly, when he felt her leaning on his shoulder, before relaxing. He saw that she held the end of his long strand of hair in her hands. He'd decided to keep the hair, only because Cadance kept saying things about how he didn't change up his style that often.

She let her fingers comb through the tresses, as they flowed around her hand. He could feel several emotions running around the air between them.

Slight fear, anxiety, relief, a smidge of uncertainty, and…

He closed his eyes, as he focused on that last emotion.

Love.

He didn't react when she let the tresses fall from her hand. He simply let his eyes open, before they turned to focus on her face, which was turned towards his own.

It was a closing of the distance between them, that brought their lips together. Several thoughts ran between them at that moment.

 _[Would they be okay?]_

 _[Would there be pain in their future?]_

 _[Could they live the life they wanted, together?]_

More than several questions of such nature, arose between them in that moment. Yet, as he felt her body press more into his, and his own moving to meet hers. Even as they both knew not of what the future held, one thought held true between them.

 _[We'll be fine, as long as we have one another.]_

The night ended on a note, of a many new loves across Equestria.

And one specifically between two blondes, who'd found their other half in one another.

* * *

" _Because I love you!"_

* * *

"Did you know, there was somepony who loved me, once?" he muttered the words, but she heard them all the same.

"Hmm? What happened to them?" she held onto him, and he her, as they rocked slightly from side to side.

"I never really got to know that person, as well as maybe I should have. She was "weird", in a good way, but I never gave her chance, but in the end she loved me the most. I chased that away with my ignorance, and in the end, only learned of it before coming here. With her protecting me," he tightened his hold on the grey mare, who simply let him.

"I would say, I failed at love once, and dreaded ever getting the chance to do so again." she shifted against him, before looking him in the eyes, as well as she could. She smiled at him, with that smile that made his heart skip a beat. The smile that made him want to do everything in this world, and the next over, to keep it around for the rest of his days.

"It sounds like I should thank her. That I get to meet you, to know you, to fall in love with you. I thank her from the bottom of my heart." hearing those words, brought his heart nearly to burst, and he held her close as he felt a few tears fall from his eyes.

He wouldn't allow himself to lose love for a second time. He'd hold onto this feeling, and protect it, for the rest of his life.

* * *

Cadance simply looked up at the sky from the rooftop of Shining's apartment. Her horn shone with an ephemeral light. Shining lay asleep in the bed inside, and she would be quick to join him in a moment, but she had to come out here, and just _listen_.

She heard many things. So many of them wondrous sounds, and others destructive ones. Yet…

She smiled, as the wind picked up and blew her own tresses of yellow, pink and light purple hair.

"Congratulations, Naruto Uzumaki and Derpy Hooves." she felt that magic in her horn finally die down, and walked back inside, to her own love.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Dinky felt her eyes flicker, as she tried to bring them open. She wasn't sure where she was, but her tummy hurt and her eyes were really itchy.

Finally getting them to open, she saw blurry whiteness, and heard a muffled beeping. She tilted her head slightly to her left, and saw a blurry form of colors on an object of white.

She felt like the colors were familiar, but she couldn't place it.

There was a muffled "click", as a, just as muffled, whining squeal pervaded the room.

Her bleary eyes slowly moved over to the sound, and they caught sight of a blurry grey and pale yellow blob.

Her eyes blinking away the blurriness some more, she could see the shape was a pegasus, with an eyepatch. The pony whose form gave her the strength to actually try speaking.

"Ma...ma?" the blob looked startled, before it rushed to her side, and she felt herself engulfed by a familiar warmth.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Two days later, Rolling had been checked out of the hospital, much to his family's happiness. Though it was much to his, Golden's, Amethyst's shock as well as Dinky's glee, that they found out Naruto and Derpy had gotten together.

It hadn't even been something the two told them, but more that they found out.

They'd been checking out Naruto's apartment, after he'd given them the rundown on what he planned, and where they would stay.

For the most part they'd all been lazing around, before Derpy suggested that Naruto should buy some new furniture, and they travelled all over Manehattan, doing so.

It came as a surprise, that as they shopped Naruto and Derpy held hands. It came as shock, when the two would be so touchy-touchy. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was odd when two ponies, or a pony and a changeling in this case, were so free with one another. Especially when they weren't even in a relationship.

The final kicker was when they'd been carrying, wll more like Naruto had been with those _clones of his_ (Rolling still couldn't comprehend _that_.), and Derpy had stated she was going to zip on over to work to tell them she'd be in the next week.

That had been all fine and dandy, until she laid one on the blonde, who didn't look any bit as surprised as everypony else did!

Watching his marefriend fly off, the ninja turned to see the gaping looks of her family and friends, and blinked at them.

It took him a few moments, before he dropped a fist in his palm, with an "Oh right!", before he scratched the back of his head and said:

"Yeah, funny story, me and Derpy kind of hooked up...Crazy, right?"

They didn't know what to be more appalled at. The casual delivery, or the way he just expected them to tak-!

"Yay!" Dinky's little cheer was simply all that could be said, in that moment.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Following that event, a couple of days later Naruto had thought it prudent to introduce the rest of his own family to his second half.

It went as well, as could be expected.

* * *

" _ **Must...buy...Wedding gown! Give me your three sizes!**_ _"_

" _Velvet, honey, no!"_

* * *

" _Trixie now realizes, that Master must be a flank stallion. She always thought he was more favoring of the chest department."_

" _Trixie! That's inappropriate!"_

" _Eep!"_

" _Hah! Trixie knew she would be able to teach you something Sparkle! Even Moondancer is not safe from Trixie's teaching hands!"_

* * *

The worst of it though, had to have come from Cadance.

* * *

" _Cadance, you can stop dancing, now!"_

" _I~ was~ Right~! It makes me just want to sssiiinnngggg~! Makes me want to DANCE!"_

" _Uh, good job, Naruto. Uhmm, Cadance? Maybe lay off the dancing?"_

" _Aww, why?"_

" _ **Our dancing Queen!**_ _"_

" _Ah the cult! It's returned!"_

 _ **~TCL~**_

Looking back on it, Naruto found it hilarious.

"Naruto the movie's about to start!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He leaped over the back of his most recent purchase, before landing in between Derpy and Golden Harvest. Looking over to Golden's right were Shining and Cadance, the unicorn having an finger on a button behind the projector. In Cadance's hands were three bottles of liquor, as she grinned a cheerful grin.

Naruto grinned right back, as Golden and Derpy Hi-5'd in front of him.

"Let's do this!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

 _ **Canon Omake: Spike's Side**_

 _ **Five Years Later…**_

Spike looked down at his written notes, before nodding once more.

The dragon had gotten up from his place on the ground, in the woods, by the field the others had chosen to have their picnic at.

Spreading his wings, he gazed at them. The scar running along the membrane of the right one, and the large line of slightly messy flesh on the left, reminded him of how weak he actually was that day, so many years ago.

Looking back down, he could hear Twilight, and their new friends from Ponyville, chatting just outside the forest line. Hard to believe that she'd come so far from that little no-friend filly from so long ago.

She definitely still stayed in touch with their friends from Canterlot, if Trixie's recent passing through was anything. The Wandering Performing Researcher, her words not his, had did her absolute best to stay in touch.

Last he heard from Moondancer, she was studying to be a professor at the Celestia's School for Magically Gifted Individuals. It had been a quite a while ago, that the other bookish mare, that was often joked to be Twilight's doppelganger, had decided that she liked teaching. This mostly stemmed from watching Naruto "teach" them, when they were kids.

He glanced down at his lavender sweatpants, and white shirt, before leading his gaze to the bracelet on his right wrist. Said bracelet, was a thing Naruto had given to the dragon, when he was about 12. The blonde had finally perfected the idea of getting spells to stay in objects, mostly with some help from Dinky, surprisingly.

The drake felt his face heat up, at the thought of his, as of next month, yearlong marefriend. Scratching the back of his headfin, he brought a flaming hand to his bracelet, or as Naruto dubbed it, **The Black Cross** , patent pending. It was named as such for the large "X" decoration as the main centerpiece.

On more than one occasion. He'd had Rarity ask him about it, and he gave her the same answer.

"Family Secret."

She always seemed to try and get it out of him, but he remained strong. Were he not attached already, he might have fallen for her wiles, but he resisted!

Bringing his magically burning digit to the cross, he tapped on the southeast corner thrice.

He let out a sigh, as he felt the weight of his body lighten to an incredible degree, before he began some stretches.

He'd come a long way, under both Naruto's and Shining's tutelage. The blonde had even said, that come his 16th birthday, he'd have Spike speak to his Toad teacher! Shining even said, that he'd probably be able to take the Recruitment Day Training once he turned 17!

He'd be turning fifteen soon, so that wasn't that far off.

Finishing his stretches, his body a little bit more attuned with the "floatiness" it now had, he moved on to the one thing he would call his own.

Focusing on a palm, he watched it glow, before slowly a sword began to form.

It had taken a long time to try and find a spell like this. It took that long, mostly because a spell like this didn't exist, in the beginning. It was something he'd created of his own efforts, along with help from Twilight, Moondancer, Trixie and his adoptive mom, Celestia.

Memory spells, transmogrification, lots of book reading and a trip to some southern temples, and this was the result.

In his hand, lay a short sword. By the definition of its name, it was short, maybe the length of his forearm, to a quarter of his bicep. The blade was a deep gray, and the handle a dark green. Its base started out broad, before narrowing in the middle and then widening again at the top, before coming together in a point.

He lifted the blade, tested its weight, and then swung it a few times, before frowning. Bouncing it in his claw, he then threw it at one of the trees around, before watching it break apart, and disperse into motes of magic.

"Tch, seriously, it's like I can only get it right, 50% of the time. Back to the drawing board." he huffed, before looking down at his notes again.

He'd become quite the studious dragon, more likely because of the company he was around, than self-interest.

Pondering for a moment, he allowed his magic to go on autopilot, as he went over the formulas necessary for this particular spell.

A glow shifted into the dragon's palm once more, before a plain short sword appeared. In a flash it was gone, and replaced by a dagger, and next by a broadsword.

He wandered, as he did this, ever oblivious to the wandering eyes of three fillies, as they watched the spectacle in his hands.

* * *

"How do you think he's doing it?"

"Ah don't know! I've never seen Spike do this before. Maybe he's just able to do magic?"

"I thought dragons only did fire! Since when was magic a part of their package? He didn't even do this, when Trixie came to town"

The three fillies spoke in hushed, not so hushed, whispers. The only reason their resident dragon hadn't heard them, was solely due to him being lost in his own thoughts.

He just wandered aimlessly, as he continued to mess with the different weapons that floated into his hands.

"Ah don't like how deep he's going into that 'ere forest."

"Same here."

"Me three!"

"..." x 3

"Cutie Mark Crusaders on a rescue mission!" the trio managed to whisper-yell, never noticing how the dragon in question disappeared from their sight, the moment they looked away.

* * *

"Oh Twilight would you please, just tell me! _Please~_ " the pristine white pony whined, before pushing out her lower lip.

Twilight wasn't budged.

"Rarity, I told you, if Spike doesn't want to tell you, I can't. I don't even know how these things are made." though she grumbled, "Not like I haven't tried."

"Wait, you, the egghead, don't know? How the hay is that even possible?" came a raspy voice, from a multi-color maned pegasus. Next to her, a pegasus with a butter colored coat, twiddled her thumbs, as a trail of ants passed by.

"The pony who made them, wasn't exactly too forthcoming with the information, when I was younger. After a while, I got swamped with too much stuff to do, to focus on it." Rarity's eyes shone with this revelation.

"So you know the pony who made the item? I've been wondering forever, and I can never get Derpy to open up about where she got it. Even Trixie didn't tell me, and she left before I could say a thing!" an earth pony mare, wearing a Stetson hat, flicked the tip of the headwear upward with a finger.

"Now Ah ain't one for all this, fruu-fruu fashion nonsense, but Twilight I find it hard to believe that you know nuthin about this 'ere, thing. Heck, you're wearing one of the things right now."

Reaching up to her ear, where a certain cross shaped, black earring stayed, she grinned sheepishly.

"Well, it's not like I don't know _anything_ about the thing. It's just that, the **Black Cross** , isn't my story to share." they all looked up at her in confusion.

" **Black Cross?"** the quartet of her friends asked, though Rarity's question came out with more of a "Squee", causing Twilight to nod her head.

"That's the name, originally Na-the pony who made this wanted to call it something else, but he said the name stuck.

"So it's a male, who you have possible history with? Oh please, Twilight! I must have this wear! Think of the dress I could market around it!" at this, Twilight chuckled, and detached the earring.

She held it out in the palm of her hand, showing it to her friends. They noticed how she let off a sigh with it off, and gave her a questioning look.

She smiled.

"I don't think these would be a good idea to market for clothing. At least, not how they currently are. The special thing about these is that, well, they affect gravity." Rainbow Dash gave her the squintiest look possible.

"Uhm, excuse me, but as a mare who stomps gravity into the ground on a daily basis," they rolled their eyes at this boast. "I don't see how this thing, is affecting anything. Unless the Earth all of a sudden got like .01 times lighter, or something." the lavender unicorn smirked, before holding the earring out to the Wonderbolt wannabe.

"Well, why don't we put your money where your mouth is?" she grinned, innocently. "Put these on, and I'll turn it to the highest setting."

They all looked to one another, as they noticed that Twilight went into one of her "moods" again.

Rainbow Dash wasn't convinced.

"Fine! But when it does nothing, you have to tell Rarity everything!" Twilight looked nonplussed, before she nodded her head.

"But, of course." eying her friend for a moment, Rainbow Dash set the earring in place, before Twilight's hand tapped the side of a point.

The effect was instantaneous.

"Whoa!" the next thing Rainbow knew; she was struggling to get off the ground. "Struggling" being that, she could only twitch her body in different ways, as she now lay flat against the floor itself.

"Welcome to the world of 4 times gravity! What can I get ya?" Twilight seemed all too pleased with the result, before she tapped the side of the earring, and Rainbow let out a breath of air.

Taking the earring off, she set it back onto her own ear. Her expression straining slightly, before she relaxed, much to the others disbelief.

Fluttershy was the one to voice their question.

"Twilight? Are you okay?" in the background, Rainbow felt a crick in her neck pop, as she got back into sitting position.

"Well, yeah. Like I told Rainbow, that was the _highest_ setting. I'm not even going two times gravity right now. More like...one and a half?" she said, with a shrug.

"Who the hay would even make something like that? What were they? Some kind of masochist?" Twilight actually laughed at that.

"Not even. Naruto just likes to train, even when he doesn't-Oh," Twilight brought a hand to her mouth, but they could see the smirk behind it. She'd intentionally let it slip.

"Nah-rue-toe? What is that, some sort of fancy fruit?" the Stetson wearing pony asked, only to be interrupted by Rarity.

"So that's the name of the creator? I must have at least a dozen of these!" the orange one gave her a flat look.

"Were some snakes just clogging yer ears, or somethin'? You saw what it did ta Dash, why would you even want something that ain't good for nopony?" here Twilight interjected.

"Who said this wasn't good for anypony, Applejack?"

"Ya lost me."

"What I mean is, that there ARE good things that these are used for. Like previously stated, my "friend", made these for training. Even now, under 1.5 times gravity, I'm feeling my muscles burn energy to keep me upright." they all looked at her weirdly for a moment, before they looked upwards in thought.

That is, before Rarity's eyes seemed to shine brighter than any star. She gripped Twilight by the shoulders, and stared her right in the eyes.

"Twilight, are you saying that even now, you're basically exercising? That no matter what, at this very moment, you're burning calories, fat, and _pounds_?" if Twilight ever wanted to feel the familiar intensity of her mother, it'd be in this moment.

For in that moment, Twilight knew, she messed up.

"Um…. yes?" she actually curled backwards, as Rarity loomed overhead.

" **I want one** ~" she seemed to hiss, causing the group to collective sweat, before Applejack turned the conversation to something else.

"Wait a minute, doesn't this mean that Spike's been walking around with in that same gravity, somethin'?" Rarity eased back to actually think of this.

"Actually dearie, couldn't this be dangerous for Spike? I mean, the dear's just a child." Twilight gave her a frowny look.

"Rarity, Spike's fourteen." They all blinked.

" **He is?** " Twilight nodded, but Rarity interjected.

"But he's so...short." Rainbow actually seemed to take slight offense to this.

"He reaches past my shoulder, how is that small?" Rarity threw her a look.

"Rainbow, you're not exactly the shining example of a normal sized pony." the weatherpony captain's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Yeah, well neither is Pinkie," this statement, actually got the rest of them wondering. They looked around for a moment.

"As a matter of fact, where _is_ Pinkie?"

At that moment, a tree in the forest fell, with a resounding crash.

* * *

Spike knew he should stop thinking and doing, but it was something he picked up from Twilight. It wasn't his fault.

He ignored the growls from the timberwolves, and thought to himself for a moment.

Right now, what would be to the best effect?

The timberwolves didn't seem to care for his thinking, and one of the three lunged forward. As it was, neither it nor its brethren saw the glow from Spike's claw.

One moment the wolf was jumping towards the teenaged male, the next, Spike stood behind the natural, unnatural, creature. He flicked a trail of sap from the edge of the butcher's knife, he now had, splattering the sticky substance against the ground.

The wolves froze, as the one that passed Spike, turned around, only to find that its vision began to split. The next moment, the wolf fell to pieces.

The other two looked to one another, before looking at Spike. The dragon teen grinned at them, showing all his sharp teeth,

The next moment, he was beside one of the wolves, in his hand was a broadsword. Across the edges of weapon, was a thin shining line of burning green.

He brought the sword down on the wolf, and sliced it in two, the sides burning from the added damage of his flames. He lashed a leg out, and kicked the last wolf to the side, watching as it broke apart against the bark of a tree. The tree it slammed against was small, but big enough that when it broke, it fell to the floor with a sound larger than "thud".

Looking at the broken mess of magic wood, he waited. In the grasp of his hand, the broadsword broke, and dissipated. He acknowledged this, and simply allowed a different weapon to take its place. This weapon was something he'd seen in a samurai movie once.

A single edged blade, with no guard, and the handle being a polished, dark green. Across the edge of the blade, he fed his flames, as he watched the timberwolves, begin to form back together.

He'd heard of timberwolves, from his brothers. Creatures that lived only in Everfree, and could be quite the nuisance, if destroyed in large amounts, and left alone.

Naruto had come here, a few times, to actually scope out the forest, and encountered them. He let Spike know ahead of time, and well, the dragon was all the more prepared for it.

He'd already burned the two halves of one of the wolves, so the reforming wasn't even that big of a threat. It was simply one size bigger, than a normal timberwolf. Even as it growled at him, Spike smiled a truly happy smile, as he held his katana aloft.

He allowed light to flash from his other hand, as a scabbard appeared, and he set the blade inside. That done, he began to walk towards the Enhanced Timberwolf, his steps holding a steady grace, as his left claw held the scabbard.

Resting his right on the handle, he thought immediately about what he was gonna do.

He remembered the talks he had with Naruto and Shining, about how fast the ninja moved. More than once, the two slower of the boys, tried to devise a way to keep up, speed wise.

Back then Spike had been looking through one of his comics, or books, for the sake of reference. The one he found though, wasn't as he wanted, but it had its good points.

He thought about that comic, Alicorn Sphere Y. The main character, Monkey West, had come back from a space battle, after a year's time, and had gained a new technique. It was like a teleportation spell, but instant.

Obviously, Spike couldn't use a spell like that. He was like Naruto and Shining, in that it seemed to complicated, but that was okay. After much brainstorming, he and Shining came up with an idea that might make it work.

Instant Movement, plain and simple. Launching themselves at one moment, by using a set of spells and coordinates.

As he walked, his hands glowed for a moment, as a light flickered over his feet.

The feet would hold control the movement, and the active coordinate setting.

The next moment, a minor wind spell set itself over his being.

Cut down any resistance, one might get during. Spike was lucky to have scales, instead of fur. His IM was better than Shining's due to it, though Shining's came with less pain, if you messed up.

With this they had surprised their blonde "brother", and also never let him know, for some petty reason, how they made it work.

He was closer to the magical contructed being, and he allowed his mind to slow to a crawl, as he gripped the handle of his sword.

The best part? Was just how cool it was to pull it off. Spike had only ever gotten to do this with dummies, Naruto set up.

The wolf growled, a sound that inspired no fear in Spike at this point, but it did prod out a grin of challenge.

So he stopped for one moment, the wolf watching him as he did.

"You know, I always wanted to come up with a name for this. Naruto had cool names for all his attacks, but even Dinky said that sometimes the best attack, didn't have a name." he scoffed in amusement.

"Shows what she knows. Marefriend, or not, attack names are _always_ cool. So I came up with one anyway. So come," he lifted a hand off his hilt, and made a "come hither" motion.

The wolf made no delay, as it lunged full force. It's wooden bulk, coming towards him, with all the power it had.

The dragon simply, crouched slow, and brought his claw to the hilt of his blade.

The next moment, he gripped the coordinates of his soon to be displacement, toes curling against the forest floor, before his form blurred towards, and then past the wooden wolf in an instant. He took a few steps to bleed off the excess momentum, but as he did so he was slowly sheathing the blade in his possession.

" **Dragon Song.** "

The blade slid shut into its sheath, both items proceeding to break apart, back into motes of magic and light, leaving him defenseless.

Not that he had anything to fear, as he watched the body of the Enhanced Timberwolf, begin to become etched into. Lines and flashes of green ran across its exterior, from nose to tail, before they ended, and it fell into a heap. The pieces smoking slightly, as the cut apart pieces revealed charred insides.

Spike simply stared for a moment, mentally preparing himself for his outbu-

"YES! MOVIE LEVEL ACHIEVED!" He dropped to his knees, pumping his arms up and down in victory. He wanted to rake in his own personal victory, as he finally did it!

So many hours in front of a movie projector, and he finally got it right!

He would have continued his victory celebration alone, were it not for a trio of familiar fillies lunging out of the bushes towards him with stars in their eyes.

"That was the coolest thing, I've ever seen!" He heard the shouting from the orange pegasus filly, as her excitement matched his own.

"That was just like in the movies!" The cracking voice of a unicorn enter from his left.

"You gotta teach us how to do that!" The bow wearing earth pony proceeded to shake him, for all she was worth.

" **Hay no!** "

* * *

They sat once more at the picnic blanket, as Spike was still wrapped in his own euphoric moment, of self-attained badassery.

"Okay, so does somepony want to explain, why I just saw something that looked like it came right out of an action flick? Much less, from our resident teenaged dragon, over here," Rainbow asked, pointing at the still grinning, from ear-to-ear, Spike.

"But it was so cool!" Scootaloo couldn't help but argue. Rainbow wasn't going to lie, it _was_ cool, that didn't really explain _how_ it happened.

Spike had essentially almost one-upped her in the Cool department! _HER_! Rainbow Danger Dash!

She was getting to the bottom of this, no if's, and's, or but's.

"You guys should have seen it! It was like watching Mohawk Samurai 3! It was all like, "Whoosh", "Zing" and "Psssshhhtt"!" They'd found Pinkie, of course, she was off to get Spike, so he would explain the bracelets and earrings.

Speaking of.

Rainbow eyed the bracelet on his wrist, and turned to Twilight.

"So exactly how much extra weight, IS Spike packing here?" the dragon's adoptive sister, put a finger to her lips, as she thought.

"If I had to guess...2.5 times? Possibly three, it has been a while." their eyes widened, Rainbow's especially.

"But there's no way he could move that fast, with that much weight!"

"Well, duh, of course I can't." Coming down slightly, the dragon in question spoke up, catching their attention.

"I turned all the gravity back to normal, and from there, I used what I know." he said, with a smirk, causing Rainbow's eyebrow to tick, before her mouth twisted into a smile.

" _Oh_ is that so? Then how about a race? Me and you, right here, right now?!" Spike actually laughed nervously.

"I'm gonna have to, give you that win." her jaw dropped, before she made strangled sounds and mad motions back towards the forest.

"It's not like I'm super-fast normally. I'm definitely not that great at flying either, at least, not without the gravity. That's why I fly so slowly, I'm just faster on the ground." she still looked put out.

"So what was all that back there?" Spike thought about it for a moment.

"Well, think of it like this. It's like you going from standing to your fastest flying speed in a literal moment." she froze at this, as her eyes gazed out towards the horizon. Her, Rainbow Dash, going from 0 to Sonic Rainboom, in a single moment.

Spike looked at her, and nodded his head, as she began to drool at the very idea.

"That's basically it. I can't do it with the weights on, and I can't do it continuously, as much as I want to." Scootaloo looked at him.

"So the attack name?" he grinned once more.

"Got inspiration for it from an epic. Apparently, the guy that used it in the book, had three swords, don't remember his name though." Sweetie Belle, looked at him strangely.

"What about that bit, with the marefriend?" he froze, Twilight froze, and so did the rest of them.

"O-oh, u-um, I have no idea what you're talking about." he started to sweat, as he saw Twilight send a look his way.

" _Spike~_ " he gulped, but right before he could, he held a hand to his lip and a bit of green flame escaped him. The next moment he was holding a scroll. This scroll in particular had a pin on it, that looked strangely like a sword, with a ribbon on it.

They all looked at the scroll for a moment, before Spike slowly tried to get up, only to be brought back down by a purple aura.

"Spike~?" oh darn his day.

"Y-yes, lovable big sis?" Those who had siblings, could only shake their heads.

That was the tone one used, when they knew they got their flanks caught.

"Who's this from?" he started to sweat even more, and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Why from the princess, of c-course?" he stuttered. She looked at him, before giving him a sweet smile. It was the kind of smile that was so saccharine that it could melt your teeth, on sight.

"So let me read it." was all she said, but he froze, and Applejack shook her head, a muttering of "The varmint's lying right through his teeth.", escaping her lips.

"Well, I mean, I usually read it, right? I might as well," he didn't know when they had all grabbed him, but he didn't like it. The scroll floated out of his grip, and into Twilight waiting hands, before she unfurled it.

"So Twilight, who is our little dragon friend courting, hmm?" Rarity couldn't help herself. She was gossiper of the very highest rungs, and she'd never let this pass her ears. Twilight froze, as she got to a certain part of the scroll.

'Oh no,' Spike couldn't help but think.

"Spike… When were you going to tell me that you're dating Derpy's daughter?" The CMC, who had currently been drinking something, spittaked.

" **You're dating who?!"** Twilight wasn't done it seemed.

" _Spike_ …" he resigned himself to his fate.

"Yessss," he droned.

"How long?" he froze, as she threw him the biggest The Look(™) he'd ever received in his short life.

"...Eleven months" he whispered, but she heard him all the same.

"ELEVEN WHAT?!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

 **Author's Note:**

 **OMG This took, FOREVER to get out!**

 **I've put WAY too much thought into a fic, that's supposed to have been only four chapters long originally.**

 **Who DOES THAT?!**

 **...OH right, I did!**

 **Just enjoy the two chapter segments, and I'll get back to your guys with an Omake, of a more comedic sort, shameless shipping sort, in maybe a week.**

 ** _~NRK Out~_**


	6. Changelings (Status Quo)

_**Is it about that time? It's about that time!**_

 _ **Heya my peeples, whazzup! Long time no see! I know that I haven't updated in a bit, but you all know, school. Last year for me too, so I gotta be on it.**_

 _ **Got my classes, handling the FAFSA stuff, and well, life doesn't wait for anyone. Regardless of if they have to write about anthropomorphic, pastel colored horses.**_

 _ **We'll all live, I mean, we're all going through it right now, anyway.**_

 _ **That said, let me formally welcome you all to the end of this fic!**_

 _ ***Fanfare* *Toots horn***_

 _ **It's been a long time coming, and I couldn't have made it, if it wasn't for you guys. YOU! The readers, reviewers and commenters. Not just you, but my favorite, and only, editor! Thanks to XIII Hearts, man you rock hard. Thanks for putting up with me, and my antics, the whole Summer. Hope to see more of you in my future works.**_

 _ **Expect this chapter to be exactly what you want it to be.**_

 _ **It's time for a WEDDING!**_

 _ **~TCL~**_

She stared across the table, red eyes staring indifferently towards the other female across from her. She sat in her personal throne, the blackened material adorned by obsidian silk, gold embroidery, and red crystals.

She lifted a hand, glancing over her chitin covered form of her slender body, feeling a self-gratified sense of pride. Her body was similar to her twin's, curvy in all the right places. Her form covered in a dark, skin-tight mockery of a nun's adornments. The long dress was cut to just above her knees, with the sleeves starting from her bicep, to come down to her wrists, leaving her shoulders open to the world. On her right shoulder lay a rose like construct that bore in white against her skin.

There was no coif, but she kept the stiff crown. It allowed the dual transparent veils to hang from her head, the see through materials allowing her long, dark red membrane-mane to be seen. Her masterpiece of a horn sat atop her forehead, the magic conduit straight, with a set of missing sections, as should be expected.

She was beauty. She was the succubus of their little quartet. The younger of two Monarch twin sisters.

She was Nympha.

She crossed her legs with the grace unbefitting of her dress, and she knew it. Many a spouse had been lured to her beds, their others left wanting. Ponies, minotaur, zebras, to just name a few. She'd tasted them all throughout history, and none have been capable of ignoring her wiles.

There was a grunt from across the table, and she felt her lips' corners dip in distaste.

"You truly are the most vain of us," the female across from her spoke, causing Nympha's eyes to be casted upon the one across from her. Nympha allowed her lips to snarl, before they bore a smug expression.

"Yet, I'm the one with the largest hive. The most diverse of our subjects and," she allowed her forked tongue to wetten her lips. "The one with the most 'conquests.'" There was a gleam in her eye, as she watched her the youngest of four snarl in disgust at her.

She feigned a remorseful expression.

"But alas, if only you used those looks of yours for a better purpose," she said dramatically, before her own lips curled in unpleasantness. "Truly, one who allows scars to bare their form has no place near me, Aurelia. Mother must be rolling her grave from the sight of you."

The Monarch across from Nympha threw her a flat look, as she raised an eyebrow. Yellow membrane-mane curling over to one side, a braided ponytail going down her back, as she threw her sister an unbelieving look. Her body dressed from bottom to top in metal and linen.

Her hole filled legs were encased in metal shin guards, and thigh high boots. Said boots were leading up to her dark grey shorts, with a brown rope tied around her waist. On her top was a robe like garment of golden and black colors, with sleeves that ended near the wrist. One part of the top was off her form, showing the black feminine exoskeleton underneath, her modesty only covered by the padding that covered her upper half, like some sort of leather tube top.

All across her shoulders were marks and scars that her outer shell could not be shed for. Battles she'd fought, won and conquered. The largest scar lay on her back. Her most valued one.

Her horn was shorter than her sister's across from her. Actually, her's was the smallest of all theirs, causing her no shortage of taunts from her "siblings."

She had the biggest bust though, as much as Aurelia hated it, she could hold them above her sisters. She was happy to have her leather armor to contain them. It truly was convenient.

The youngest of four Queens rolled her wrists, the leather, fingerless gloves showing on them, as she threw her sister a disbelieving look.

"You cared nothing for mother as it stood. Those chaste emotions must be dulling your memory Nympha," the shorter of the two in the cavern said from her throne of yellow minerals, dark vines and blackened rock.

Nympha wasn't amused.

"For all that Prudence you feed on, you must be one of the most foolish Changelings I've met. Especially with that small hive of yours, hah! Even _Chrysalis_ has a larger hive than you." Aurelia glared at her sibling, and stood from her seat. A yellow vapor-like substance rolling from her sleeves. A mark on her uncovered shoulder glowed a blindly yellow, the shape of a thin circle pierced by a single pin.

"You'll hold your tongue Nympha. This area only stands because of Mother's memory." Nympha stood up herself, magic curling and extending slightly from her curled fingers.

"Yet, you're the one who stands as if to fight me. Remember your place _youngest_ , lest you want your birthplace, to also be your _deathbed_ ," the red maned changeling Queen spat, incensing her younger sibling.

The two monarchs seemed ready to come to blows. The air thrumming with restless energy and hostility.

An aura around the two built; blazing red and glinting yellow. Yet, before any manner of harm could be exchanged between the two monarchs, a sound echoed in the halls of their rocky birthplace.

The two paused, their magical energies simmering , before fading as they listened. The next moment, a feeling invaded their senses, and both groaned.

"Ugh, it's _her_. I have to wonder how much Wisdom she's been sipping on since we've last seen her," Nympha groaned, as she allowed her form to fall back into her seat unceremoniously. Her legs kicking up, before falling back down.

Aurelia's yellow eyes looked in the direction of the blip on her radar, and narrowed her yellow eyes.

"Wait… That… That isn't our sister. That isn't Cocoona." This caused Nympha's eyes to widen, before she turned her head in the same direction of the noise.

The sounds were small steps, too light to be any of their sisters' own. The "feeling" wasn't Cocoona's either, yet it felt similar.

"What in Tartarus…?" Nympha swore, even as her mouth opened wide. Aurelia wasn't doing that much better, eyes widened to alarming degrees, as the two watched the small form of the changeling that entered the caverns.

One that felt just like their eldest sister Cocoona.

Like another monarch.

The little changeling female who entered the fray looked over at them with mischievous eyes, as her bright amethyst ones looked back at them. A dark purple membrane-mane that was seemingly unruly top the head of the child, curving around the small horn on her forehead. She was short, possibly even shorter than Aurelia's 5'2. She was definitely shorter than Cocoona's staggering 6'5 or Nympha & Chrysalis's matching 6'2. She might have been possibly a good half a foot shorter than Aurelia.

Dressed in a large poncho that was seemingly made from tapestry of a Roamian royal's quarters, her form was mostly indistinguishable. The only other thing about her, that they knew, was that she was wearing white harem pants.

"Hello _aunties_ ~" she sang, causing both of them to nearly choke, as she neared the circle of five thrones, before settling herself into the seat of their eldest sister. She sat there, feeling snug, as the two monarchs tried to regain themselves.

Nympha nearly fell out of her chair, before she snapped her gaze to her sister's in disbelief. Aurelia stared at the Ruby Hive Queen, before turning to the smallest changeling _monarch_ in the room.

"What did you just call us?" Aurelia's eyes narrowed almost immediately, as they settled on the smaller female. Nympha's disposition shifted, as she recomposed herself, before crossing her legs, and turning her attention to the anomaly.

Seeing the attention on her, the little mystery seemed to giggle before she gave them a straight look.

"Mother was correct when she said that you'd be shocked. Sadly, I can't stay for long," the little brat said with a sigh, as she allowed her eyes to go half-lidded.

"Cocoona's your mother isn't she? I'd recognize her colors anywhere, but that doesn't explain-" Nympha started.

"-Who you are, and _why_ you're here," Aurelia finished, eyes constantly looking over the new addition to their little circle of Queens. She was wondering how she even got into the place, all things considered.

As much as they didn't like each other, and that was putting it lightly, they did have to meet once every decade to make updates on territories found, lost and conquered.

You learn to avoid stepping on anyone's toes, when you know whose area you're stepping into.

The littlest changeling in the cavern hummed, eyes closed, before she smiled.

"Pupa," she said simply, causing them both to blink, before she pouted at them. "None of you even asked for my name!" She stated with a huff, causing both the others to simply look at each other.

Neither of them were even remotely entertained.

"Neither of us are laughing _child_!" Nympha's shout was followed by both the echo of her voice, and her crimson aura burst from her seat to the ceiling.

Aurelia's eyes switched to her sister's position, before they focused back on the smallest- _Pupa_ , and warned her.

"This is not a game for children. Neither is being here," the Topaz Queen stated. "Remove yourself from the premises. You're only being forgiven because-"

"Because this is a gathering for those of the Monarchy," Pupa finished, her expression turning to impassiveness, causing both of the two sisters to grit their teeth.

Nympha finally stood from her seat.

"That's it, you fucking brat. I was being nice, but now I'm going to-!"

- _Going to_ what _Nympha? Because it sounds like you were about to inflict harm to MY heir.-_

All sound stopped, as Pupa removed an arm from within her poncho, to reveal a bright purple glowing mark on the back of her hand. Everyling else in the room stared at the glowing mark, before the voice sounded out again. Each word accentuated by a brief glow of the mark in question.

"Mother…" Pupa whispered, eyes retaining a softer quality, as she stared at the back of her hand.

 _-Make no mistake you two, I may have retreated from the game, but should even a bit of mane be out of place from Pupa's head, NOTHING will save you from me.-_

Both adults flinched, only for their eyes to widen as they processed everything that was just said.

"Wait-!" Aurelia.

"You mean-!" Nympha.

There was a sigh from the glowing mark, before Pupa spoke up.

"Mother decided to pull away from Equestrian territory. In simpler terms, Mother has given up all ownership over the lands she laid claimed to in her term."

 _-Correct, all my land-_

"Is free game! Yes! I'm been waiting for years to steal that stupid bit of land by Los Pegasus. That place is a gold mine of idiots to feed from!" The Red Hive leader could just sing!

Aurelia on the other hand, looked over to the smallest changeling in the room, and watched as her countenance fell. Mind trying to piece together the facts, she spoke up, ignoring her more "passionate" sibling.

"Cocoona?"

 _-Hmm?-_

"Why?" This cut Nympha's self-celebration short, as she turned to look at her sister with a dumbfounded expression.

"What is WRONG with you?! She just gave up her lands, and you're going to ask _why_?!" The yellow Hive Leader turned her glare on her sister, before turning back to Pupa's direction.

"I could understand her doing this, if she DIDN'T just state that this little one was her _heir_." She pointed at the youngest one in the room, causing Nympha to focus in on the brat, who focused more on the glow on her hand.

 _-Hmm, I see. You know, out of all of us, I hated you least Aurelia. Most likely because of your preference, I guess. Yet, that doesn't answer your question does it? I… I can't continue this anymore. My Hive...-_ The voice stopped, and if they strained their ears, they could hear slightly sobbing.

Pupa's own expression only darkened further, both Aurelia's and Nympha paying closer attention.

 _-It's gone.-_ Their hearts stopped cold.

W-what? _What_!

"Cocoona! Make sense!" Nympha stated, rather loudly, as she paid more than the obligatory attention to what was being said. Aurelia's eyes narrowed in suspicion, before their eldest sister spoke up.

 _-...Is everyone there? I'm noticing a severe lack of Chrysalis's monologues.-_ They sighed, even as Pupa did look around for a moment.

"No Mother, Aunty Chrysalis isn't here."

 _-Where is she?-_ Pupa looked up at the two others, and Aurelia sent a look Nympha's way.

"...Fine! That idiot's been up to something for the past year. I don't know what, but her drones have been making some dangerous loops near Canterlot."

 _-And you didn't stop her?!-_ Came the surprised, and a little angry, voice from the mark. Nympha scowled.

"You act like I _care_! Whatever she's doing, is none of my business, unless she makes open, I'm not gonna give two damns," the red stated, uncaring of the child in the room.

 _-... I specifically told you all, to stay AWAY from the Pony settlements around Canterlot! We discussed this a century ago! We do NOT want Celestia to have any incentive to come and wipe out our hives!-_

"Well, don't look at me! If I was her owner, she'd either be dead at my feet or at the foot of my throne getting-!"

"ENOUGH! One more despicable word out of your mouth, and I'll rid this world of you and your Hive _myself._ " Aurelia's voice burst throughout the caverns, giving Nympha pause, before she scowled once more.

Regardless of what she would say, Nympha was no fool. Small her sister's hive may be, but weak it was not. Much less, Aurelia herself.

There was a reason why, after all this time, there were still FOUR sisters/monarchs. Though now, that may not ring true.

Aurelia reigned in her temper, before turning back to the smallest in the room, who looked notably twitchy.

 _-Thank you Aurelia.-_ Actually hearing her say that, made the Yellow Hive leader feel… complicated.

 _-We'll address Chrysalis's missing attendance later. I need to make sure everyling knows that I'm not coming back.-_

Nympha and Aurelia looked to one another.

All in all, this was good news. Wondrous, even. One less piece of competition to deal with getting control over Equestria, but they were still suspicious.

There was still one more question to ask.

"Sister?" Nympha spoke up, and they all looked down at the sign on the back of pupa's hand.

"...Mom?" The child's voice sounded even more saddened for reasons they didn't understand.

 _-... It's nothing. What is it Nympha?-_ They honestly weren't sure why, but they didn't believe her. That was neither here, nor there, though.

"You're saying a lot right now Cocoona. You can say all these things, but that doesn't explain one thing."

 _-You're wondering why I sent Pupa, instead of coming myself.-_

They nodded, before realizing she couldn't see them.

"Yes," came Aurelia's curt reply. Yet, as they waited for her answer, they watched as Pupa's expression seemed to disappear from her face. Eyes dull, as she stared at her hand.

What?

 _-... I can't.-_ That wasn't the answer they were expecting.

 _-I didn't want to send my girl across the oceans to meet you, but if I didn't… I don't know if I'd get the chance to ever again.-_

They just stared, the silence between all of them suffocating.

Aurelia swallowed.

"W-what do you mean?"

There was a long silence, before the shining mark glowed again.

 _-It's nothing. I don't want to extend Pupa's stay here, any longer than necessary.-_

All in attendance simply sat in silence, letting everything that happened sink in. The first to break the silence, was Nympha.

"Y-you're serious? You're not coming back?" she asked, an emotion was present in her voice, that she was afraid to identify.

 _-Yes, this will be the last time you hear from me.-_

Nympha remained silent for a moment, before she spoke up again.

"T-then, good-bye." There, she'd said it, and she was still afraid of that strange emotion that was well in the back of her mind.

Aurelia looked to her sister for a moment, before she turned to Pupa's direction.

"Yes. Yes, the same as Nympha said. If you truly mean this, Cocoona. Then good-bye. I... I hope you can live out the rest of your days in peace." The sole blonde in the room said, head turned away from the other occupants.

"Mother," Pupa's voice spoke out.

 _-It's okay, you can come home now. There's nothing else you need to worry about.-_ Pupa looked at her hand for a moment, before shaking her head.

"No, that's not… That's not what I mean. You said that you had three sisters." The words the young one spoke caught everyling's attention.

 _-Yes?-_ There was a sort of uncertain quality to the response.

"Chrysalis, Aurelia and Nympha," she rattled off, and they got the impression that Cocoona might have been nodding her head, though with an unsure expression.

"So why did I feel four monarchs?" The cavern fell into stunned silence. Aurelia stood from her chair almost immediately, while Nympha sat stunned in her chair.

Silenced reigned for a moment.

 _-Pupa, what do you mean?-_ Her voice sounded disbelieving, but also worried.

"When I was coming into Equestria, passing the borders of Yakyakistan and entering pass the Crystal Mountains. I felt another monarch."

"..."

"..."

 _-Explain.-_

 _ **~TCL~**_

They watched on, as the littlest of those gathered left, and only once she was out of eyesight, did they turn to one another with grave expressions.

"Do you believe that she was telling the truth?" Aurelia asked, eyes narrowed.

"Who? Cocoona? Or that brat?" Nympha responded back, tone seemingly nonchalant, but there was a deep venom that Aurelia could hear, and feel.

"... Either one."

"..."

"..."

That was the question wasn't it? Did they believe Cocoona? The one who wasn't even in Equestria at the moment? They'd known she'd left for some place called the Echo Lands half a century ago. Now she comes up saying that her hive is gone, she hid a child from them and that she was giving up?

It seemed far too good to be true, but at the same time, the fact that she'd sent said child to them spoke wonders. Either she was losing her touch, or…

Aurelia decided that she'd play this by ear. With all said and done, there were lands she needed to look into occupying before her sisters got to them.

More important than _that_ thought, though…

"What do you think of it?" She could hear Nympha speak from her side of the large cliff they stood on. Her body facing in the same direction, as the one where Pupa had gone off to.

"You mean of this other monarch?" The Red Hive Queen grit her teeth.

"I can't believe for even a moment, that there's another one out there. Tsk, I'm bet that kid just got mixed up," the 'redhead' scoffed, as she crossed her arms, eyes narrowed.

" _I remember the feeling of them all. Mother said there were only three other monarchs, her sisters. I could feel you from all over at the borders, but I also felt a fourth."_

-Are you sure? Pupa… It's okay if you aren't, I'm won't be mad- _Cocoona sounded so off-put by this little nugget of news, but Pupa shook her head, and replied in the negative._

" _No, I'm absolutely sure. There were four. I could never forget the feeling of the fourth one…" The heiress stated, as she let out a breath._

" _It was so strong…"_

Aurelia knew her sister wasn't taking too kindly to this. Neither her, nor Chrysalis, were the type to accept the concept of surprises too well. Nympha may look, and act, like a dumb harlot, but she was far smarter than she showed.

It was her and Chrysalis's planning that had them off their 'Blue' sister.

Turning her mind on that thought, there was an unbidden thought that hung in the back of her mind.

Was it possible for there to have been another 'Blue' in hiding that was a monarch?

The very idea was illogical, yet at the same time… It was almost scary to assume otherwise.

There was no possible way for there to be another monarch of any of the currently existing hives. It wasn't a mantle that was just given, or grown into. The powers that be made it so. Their mother had originally had control of the Five Hive Colors, but with her giving birth to them, she allowed for each of her and her sisters to command a troop of their own.

With her passing, that may have been the last time they'd cordially spoken to one another. They'd divided the hives, and from there things snowballed into what they were now.

They may have each welcomed Blues into their hives, but they had to keep an eye out for any of them gaining the Feeling. Over all the years, there were only two instances where a Blue may have been developing one, and they'd snuffed that out before it could get anywhere.

So there couldn't be any other monarch. With them all, her and her sisters, still in power, and no blue cropping up into their Hives with the characteristic, the possibility should have been less than ZERO!

Unless… Was it possible for their sister, to have…?

The more she thought about it, the scarier the thought was.

Had she pulled one last hurrah on them?

Pupa moved as fast as she could. Her tiny form moving past the landscape with every beat of her wings, as she mulled over the information currently roaming in her noggin.

She was moving over the Badlands with as much speed her small body could muster, eyes keeping attention to the two senses at her back.

Her mother had always told her to be wary of her aunts, and she understood "why" now.

Their power was something she could feel, and it was amazing just how easily they could engulf her hold. At the tender age of 8, her mother had divulged the entire scope of what her sisters were like. She had lessons on who they were, as Changelings.

Their temperament, scope of abilities, looks, age and so on.

Seeing it up close though? That was whole other monster.

Chrysalis and Nympha were coordinated with their hives. Minds molded by centuries of conflict with one another.

Aurelia was the physically strongest. Having battled the Dragon Lord previous to Torch, when she was but 200 years old, and both gave each other matching scars along their backs.

She'd heard about her "Blue" Aunty, who wasn't with them anymore. About how she'd been capable of adapting abilities of others. Her mom hadn't been too knowledgeable about _how_ she could do it, but she could.

Thinking about her mother, Pupa frowned, her flying form bypassing the beginnings of a forested area.

Her mother wasn't going to live for that much longer, weakened by an attack on their hive, back when she, Pupa, was born. Some manner of beast had come, and eaten their changelings.

Mother had barely made it out of it alive, and she'd only been carrying her, two months pregnant.

She felt the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, but brushed them off.

She felt her tummy rumble.

Pupa, age 13 going on to 14, was hungry for some Ambition.

She'd been warned countless times about how a changeling's "diet" could affect their mindset, so she always took some in decent amounts. The monks her mother fed off of weren't typically that ambitious, but they'd been enough.

Yet, even she could tell the differences in her mindset. These changes also helped push her to make a decision upon coming to Equestria.

She would find a way to save her mother's life. If maybe she could get the resources that some of the Hives could offer, she might be able to find something in their hive-memory.

Easier said than done, but her preference made the will to do these things a lot more easily acquired. While she didn't think she could ask one of her aunts for it, maybe she could of that unknown monarch?

They may be her best choice, and probably her only one. She was pretty sure aunt Chrysalis wouldn't take too kindly to her. Not with how desperate her energy felt.

It wasn't impossible for a changeling to feed off of other emotions, from their preference. Her mother had done so before, and she heard stories of how her Blue aunty could feed off of any emotion, so it wasn't impossible.

Yet, a changeling whose preference is LOVE, and is desperate?

As the saying goes, Love makes you do _crazy_ things.

Crazy, and Desperate, things.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He nodded to himself, as he looked at the artifact in front of him. His brown cloak, hiding his form from being seen, as he reached out and picked up the weirdly shaped key. Running his exoskeleton covered fingers over the old magical item, he grinned and turned around.

Taking in the architecture of the temple he was currently in, he looked down from the top of the stairs, leading to the artifact in his hands, and saw the tied up forms below.

"Thanks for this guys, seriously," he gloated, as he walked down the steps and passed the forms of a tied up pegasus, a crew of earth ponies and the knocked out form of some giant blue cat-monkey thing.

They all had bunch of ninja wire spun around them, with the mare's being a slight bit thinner in wrap.

Her mouth was still uncovered, unlike the others.

"Get back here, you sonovabitch! That's not yours to take! Who the Tartarus do you think you are?!" she shouted at him, and he could see her bindings were starting to come undone, but wasn't worried.

He'd be out of here in a bit anyway.

"Hmm, well, what do you want me to say? Want my likes, dislikes and dreams for the future?" he teased, causing her to snort in a very unmarelike fashion.

"How about your name, smartass!" she shouted at him, and he took up a mock thinking pose. Sliding the key shaped object into his sleeve, passing it into a storage seal, he held up a finger.

The digit glowed, as did two lights coming from the top of his cloak's hood, before he spelled out a name.

She stared at the name for a bit, before recognizing it, and paling.

 _Mondomezza_

She looked up at him. Though his hood obscured most of his face, she could see that amused grin from the shadows. He reached into his long sleeves, and retrieved what looked like a piece of paper, before it began to light up.

"Good bye Daring Do. Don't worry," He tilted his head in a nod. "Your secret is safe with me." He grinned, as the light from the slip of paper began to glow brighter.

Her bindings of wire broke, and she lunged at him, just as the light grew beyond bright, and blinded her.

The next moment, Daring Do, Caleberon and his henchman as well as Ahuizotl (Who'd just woken up) only stared, as the weird figure disappeared.

Daring stared for all of a moment, before she grit her teeth, and slammed a fist in the floor.

"FUCK!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

He appeared in the middle of the formulaic circle decorating the floor underneath his feet. Up and around the circle were floating, rotating and spinning strings of light. Each light line crossing over with another, as numeric degrees, coordinates and spatial formulas floated about in the space. He rubbed his shoulder for a bit, before turning his attention to mare to the left of the boundary spell.

The unicorn mare with the deep red, with a dark blue and tan streak, mane that was pulled up in the front, and held there by a clip, smiled at him. She adjusted her glasses, before moving towards him with a clipboard in hand. Her purple irises glinted in delight, as he shook off any feeling of discomfort. Dressed in a white lab coat, a large, salmon-colored sweater and a long knee-length skirt, she walked over. Her eyes trailing a randomly moving line of the spell in place.

The next moment, a glow from her horn caused the entire spectacle to stop, before it all settled down. The lines shifting before they became a triplet of circles, the width of the formula circle, about 8 meters, and falling into the array below their hooves.

"Thanks again, Naruto. I needed this for my dissertation. Now if you'd be so kind as to tell me about your experiences with the Latitudinal Orbit Graphing Spell," Moondancer spoke up, as the changeling monarch dropped his hood, revealing his spiky blond tresses and blue eyes.

Blinking a bit more, Naruto Uzumaki focused in on his student, head turning her way. A clinking sound could be heard, as he adjusted the bangle, a black one with a small orifice that held a black metal "X" in it, on his upper right bicep, his cloak being shed so he could stretch out.

Dark brown pants, with a pair of bright orange "X"s on each sides of the ends, covered his bottom, while a dark orange under-armor covered his top. Strapped around his waist was a brown band, with a small fanny pack attached. His marked shoulder was free to be seen by the world, as he cracked his neck, his long ponytail whipping with the movement.

"Ugh, you know, it seems like the longer the distance, the more nauseous I get," he responded. Moondancer nodded her head, as she finished writing something down, before looking back at him. Around her neck was a necklace of black beads, and a black cross made of metal that glinted in the light.

"Hey mind if I leave a clone with you to explain the rest? I gotta get something to Celestia," the Changeling Monarch stated, causing Moondancer to pause for a moment, before she nodded.

"Yeah, it's no problem. Plus, I know how swamped Princess Celestia can get before the day's lunch hour hits." He grinned, before using a hand to ruffle her mane. She giggled at the action before a puff of smoke later, found her sitting with the clone of her "Master."

She grinned up at him.

"So, tell me about…" And the questions broke forth.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He stood before the two grand doors with his eyes closed. The next moment he opened them, before opening the entrance.

All those inside simply looked on, as the changeling came inside. Out of the 8 figures in the room, one smiled brightly as she caught sight of him.

"Ah, Grand Spymaster." She always liked noting that glint that seemed to pass his eyes when she said this. "I think I'd be right to assume that your work is finished."

She saw him nod before a small poof of smoke later, he presented her with a key shape object. Bowing as he did so, he responded.

"As always, Princess Celestia. One magical artifact of the Great Mage Melorbrook to add to the collection, the Key to Duality."

A glow enveloped the object, and brought it to the Sun goddess's fingers. Her digits trailing the surface of it, she stood from her throne, and tasked the Royal Advisory to gather their opinions for her return.

"Come along, Spymaster. Tell me of your mission, _personally_." She stated, as she walked to the back of the throne room, Naruto following after. Reaching a wall near the back, her horn shimmered, before they both disappeared in a blink of light.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Ahahahahha!" She couldn't help it. She loved hearing the stories the blonde would tell of his adventures to the temples.

"It's true! Man if I didn't already know about Daring Do, I'd be flipping my lid. I've been doing this for a while now. Who'd have thought that some of those fictional books were actual adventures!" Naruto exclaimed, as he and Celestia stood in front of the Artifact Vault.

The alicorn's horn glowed before a large conical construct was formed in front of her, and was inserted into the hole in the middle of the vault door.

There was a series of interchanging clicks and clacks, before it opened up, showing the prizes within.

Idols, statues, wands, rings and other trinkets decorated the inside. Pedestals, with magical codes casted onto them for safekeeping. Others had motion-detecting spells formed around them, while some of the magical items had magic- _draining_ implements in place.

Moving through the familiar scenery, the duo of monarch and princess walked to a free space, next to a contorting mass of cloth.

Naruto watched on, as the sun goddess's horn glowed, before that same glow traveled down to her hoof, and she stomped once.

From the ground arose another pedestal like the others, before she set the key in place upon it, and it floated, before becoming inanimate. She raised a finger, before using it to mark the pedestal.

Intertwining spires of magic shot from the ground, before coming together to clasp around the object, before hardening, and becoming chains.

She nodded her head once, and the two ventured back out of the vault.

As they left the vault, the door automatically closed behind them.

Throwing his arms behind his head, the blonde changeling's lips tilted into curious smile.

"I still don't get it; why do we keep the Elements of Harmony in a second vault? I mean, they're just like the rest of the artifacts, no? They just had a good use." Celestia hummed for a moment, before responding.

"I've told you of my prophetic dreams, have I not?" He closed his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. The world's in for a slew of other problems that only the Elements can be used for. Which I'm still calling bullshit on by the way. You don't have the full picture, but get vague dates, or weeks, yeah? But we both know that it's not always telling you everything, otherwise you'd have known about me coming here." Her lips set to a small frown, as she tried to phrase it in a way the bi-horned individual would understand. The blonde was right in some instances, because she'd never know about his interdimensional travels to Equestria. Him having told her, a couple years back, and showing her his "human form" form when he was a teen.

"Not every problem can be punched in the face, Naruto," she said.

"That's just because you haven't tried hard enough, Celly," he responded with a cheeky smile, that made her have to fight the smile that came to her lips.

The years had done well for their relationship, overall, and Celestia wouldn't give it up for the world. She'd been lonely since her sister's imprisonment, and welcomed the change that had come in the recent decade. With her sister now back though, she was happier than ever, and it showed.

"Be that as it may, how do you think we would have beat Discord?" He blinked at that, before grumbling, as the two stood.

"Special exception." He mumbled, but she knew she'd won, so Celestia grinned.

"Speaking of the Elements, where's Princess Luna?" He asked, to which Celestia's grin grew just an inch wider, and his face grew hot as his eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, sleeping. She's getting back into things still, and needs to fix her schedule. As long as she doesn't find more couples in her sheets..." He was offended, and pointed at the trying-to-look-innocent Celestia whose grin could not remain hidden.

"You set me up, dammit!" She wagged her finger at him.

"Naruto...No, of course I wouldn't. I can't control the acts depravity that goes on behind closed doors. I'm a princess, not a mind reader." There was never a day, where she wouldn't try and get him. He burned a bright blue.

"...Ghrk!" She _loved_ the reactions she could get out of him.

"But you 're adults, grown pony and changeling, how you conduct yourselves in your private time is something I don't keep track of." She said it all eloquently, but that only seemed to cause the transdimensional shinobi's eyebrow to tick.

"YOU…!" He pointed dramatically at her, before he stalled for his words. The next moment, saw him grumbling. Celestia smiled in victory.

"Oh come now, Naruto!" She pats him patronizingly on the back, and the twitching grew two-fold. "Things are fine; Luna forgives you… Probably." She finished uncertain, and leaving Naruto to bury his face into his hands.

"Ugh! Whatever, I still can't believe that I missed the whole 'Nightmare Moon' thing. Seriously, I'm in frozen mountains, and _that_ happens?! That's some bulshit!" he swore to himself. He wasn't going to miss something as outrageous as that again.

Celestia could see in his face, and felt a smile spread across her own. She knew he was still annoyed by the recent event from half a year ago with Discord.

"Worry not, I'm sure you'll be here for the next big thing to happen." She sounded _way_ too happy while saying that, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Though I'm still kind of sad you couldn't make it to the Grand Galloping Gala last year." He looked at her, before shrugging his shoulders.

"Not much to say to that. I was vacationing with the family. I mean Shining and Cadance were with us, that's why they weren't here for it either." She pouted at this, and crossed her own arms in a slight huff.

She'd been lucky that Twilight and her friends could liven up the whole thing. Normally she'd have relied on Naruto for that, but alas, it wasn't to be.

She honestly wanted to see everypony screaming as they ran away from the talking ice sculpture again.

'Oh phooey.'

She felt a pat to her shoulder, and looked to see Naruto giving her a simple smile. He understood, but there was nothing they could do. From what he heard, Twilight's friends gave her enough excitement that night.

"Come on, it's cool. Besides I'll definitely be coming to the one this year, can't leave you all alone now can I?" They grinned at one another. "Plus, I seriously need to meet Twilight's friends. Like, I don't know what kind of luck I have, that I've yet to see them."

It was beyond strange, really.

He'd been seeing Spike every other week at the minimum. Then again, when it came to him and Dinky, they had that whole **Partner Seal** thing going on. The duo of Dinky and Amethyst moved to Ponyville a year ago, Amethyst deciding that she wanted to spread her metaphorical wings, and Dinky went along, because Spike.

Seriously, if the monarch didn't already know the young dragon was dating his sorta-daughter, he'd have been suspicious.

Speaking of children…

He reached into his fanny pack, and pulled from it a photo. Looking over his shoulder, Celestia smiled at the picture in his hand.

It was photo of his 'family.' Those related to him, and not, at his son's third birthday party.

The photo showed a picture of a panicking Shining, as he ran from a determined looking Cadance. The two were passing Amethyst, Golden, and Spike on the couch. The three laughing at the running pair, with cake in their hands.

Off to the side, Derpy could be seen coming into the room, where with a bemused expression, bless her soul, as she carried a large present with her father.

Twilight Velvet seemed to be cheering Cadance on, if that shining look in her eyes was anything to go by. Night Light simply looked on.

On a nearby table, was Twilight with Dinky, both trying to steady a smaller being for the shot, as a little 'colt' sat ramming his face full of cake, as he stared at the camera.

The 'colt' was a dark grey in color, with a head full of vibrant red spikes. On his back sat a pair of feathery little wings, with a membrane-like pattern running across the edges. Heterochromatic yellow and blue eyes, stared at him, as he smiled down at the picture.

His little boy, Gallant Jiraiya Hooves. Named after his late, Great-grand godfather.

He honestly wondered what the little bundle of chaos was doing right now.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Derpy Hooves watched on, as that little blur of red and grey moved out of the corner of her eye, as her other looked to her in the same direction, but more towards the upper direction.

"Come on honey~" She crouched low, as she caught movement from behind the second couch in the living room.

Dressed in her lavender sweats, and pale yellow tank top, she looked side to side. In her ears, were a set of black, cross shaped earrings, that she was tempted to tap the side of.

They'd long since furnished the place with more furniture. There was a corner with a small bookcase in it, to keep her and her husband's literature of interest. The two ceiling fans up above her twirling, and creating slight shadows in the well-lit room.

Shadows she knew how to use.

She sent a slight tap of her hoof towards the direction of her writing desk. Ears perked, as she listened.

She felt the magic in her swirl, as her wings fluttered slightly, spreading the energy to the right side of the couch near the windows.

She had to be steady, and slow. Otherwise, he'd be tipped off to her plans.

"Come on out, you know we've played this song and dance before."

"Muy Libewties will stway! Uh-oh!" She heard his declaration, and couldn't keep the smile off her face. 'Just like his father.'

She looked to the large projector screen that was down by the triplet of windows. She'd heard him over there, but if she was right…

She had to fight the urge to look in the direction of what could only be the world's most obvious moth, that was adorned in a myriad of colors so eye-catching, that it'd be the hardest thing in the room to _not_ pay attention to.

She kept it in the slight corner of her eyes, before she smiled.

"Oh well, I guess he must be in the other rooms. Better go check~" she said in a faux defeated tone, before she briskly walked out of the room.

She entered the kitchen before counting to one, and a slightly loud thunderclap echoed from the living room.

"AAAiiieieeieWeee!" That was her cue. She quickly tapped the side of her earrings, and disappeared from the kitchen.

She locked her sights on a small figure that seemed to have just jumped in fright from a small roaming cloud, that was light grey in color.

She sped towards the small airborne being, before wrapping her arms around him.

"Gotcha!"

"Nwwooooooo!"

She proceeded to administer punishment.

"No! No-heheheh- no! Mwercy! Mwercy!" Hearing him squeal, as she used her fingers to catch him under the armpits, she decided it was enough. Simply holding onto him, she looked down at the membrane-mane redhead child.

"Now what did we learn about avoiding baths?" she admonished, as the small colt in her grasp looked up at her with. Wide, quivering red and yellow eyes looked at her.

"Mommy?" She gave him a smile, before she twitched a wing across his nose, causing him to sneeze. Out of his hands was a bottle of eyedrops.

Both looking at the tear-implements, the small child pouted.

"But I don't wanna!" She simply started snuggling the little bundle of fur and mischief, before standing up with her baby under arm.

"Now don't be like that. Don't you want to be like your papa?" He crossed his arms in a huff.

"Daddy doesn't have to bawth. Uncle Spike doesn't when he's hewe," the small colt complained, in his adorable lisp, nearly causing his mother to smother him.

"You're so adorable! My baby Gallant!" His face burned a bright red. "But you're wrong. Your god father Spike, does bathe. I should know, him and your big sis Dinky used to all the time when they were young. As for your father, I know he does."

"How?" Gallant J. Hooves asked, as he looked up at his mom. She tucked an errant red bang away from his head.

"Because he knows _mommy_ doesn't like it when he's dirty, and smelly. It makes cuddling very hard." Here Gallant could understand wholeheartedly.

Mom hugs were awesome.

Seeing her little stallion being complacent, she raised a finger, and popped the cloud she'd made like a balloon, before walking to the bathroom.

All squeaky clean a half an hour later, both Mother and son laid down on the couch. Both dressed in a white shirt, and light blue (Derpy), and grey(Gallant), shorts, with the son all snuggled up in his mom's bosom.

"Hmmm," the little changeling-pony hybrid yawned, smacking his lips together. "Mom, when is daddy coming howme?" Derpy stared at the small colt, before she stared at her left hand, where a gold banded ring lay situated. Encased on the top of the ring was a deep purple gem.

Staring at it for a moment, she ran her inner magic through the symbol of her matrimony. The next moment, it shone with a decently lit glow, which had her smiling, right before it glowed significantly brighter.

She stared for a moment, before she smiled even wider.

"Gallant?" The small child looked up at her, those bright red and yellow eyes filled with curiosity, "Why don't you close your eyes for a second, can you do that honey?"

The hybrid wasn't sure why his mom would want him to do that, but he did as he was told.

"Now I'm going to count to three, and then you can open your eyes! Okay?" He nodded his head.

"One…" He listened, as his mother's soothing voice reached his ears.

"Two…" He wasn't sure why, but why did it feel like the room got more crowded?

"Three...Open them up, Jiraiya." His eyes snapped open wide, at the sound of the _very_ familiar voice.

Red-yellow, met a pair of blues, and Naruto didn't have to wait long, before a missile, of fur and happiness, found itself buried against his chest.

"Daddy!" The small colt hugged his father for all he was worth, as the larger changeling hugged back with just as much intensity.

"What's up my little stallion? I hope you've been doing your best to keep mommy happy." He felt the child, _his_ kid, nod his head against his chest. Looking over to Derpy, he felt his eyes soften even further.

Her own did as well, as she got up from the couch, and gave him a quick kiss to the lips. From his neck hung a cord, which was strung through a golden band with a cerulean gem at its top.

"I'm home, honey."

"Welcome home, Naruto."

 _ **~TCL~**_

He held onto his marefriend, now fiance, as they cuddled up on their couch. He'd come a long way, as he looked over at the wall of their living room, and saw the Captain's Plaque on the wall. Underneath on a pedestal was a helmet that signified his status.

That was one of the greatest moments of his life, only topped by Cadance becoming his marefriend and, recently, her accepting his proposal to be his wife.

He felt Cady snuggle into his embrace, as they watched some random comedy movie.

"Hmmm, Shiny?" He looked down at his soon-to-be wife, and grinned.

"Yeah?" She pushed up from him, and looked him in the eyes.

"When should we set the date?" She questioned, causing him to tilt his head for a moment.

Currently, he was on three month leave from the RG for some good ol' R&R. It was so he could destress, spend time with Cadance and pitch the question. Yet, now that he did, he guess he really should think about when the wedding should be.

If he was being honest, he'd have preferred to have it be before he went back on active duty. He'd like to enjoy the "honeymoon phase" for a bit, before going back to work.

"I'm honestly not sure. If anything, I'd like for us to have it in the next month." The pink alicorn's eyes burned bright, as she heard his words, before she giggled relentlessly.

"OH! We could have it at the castle!" He looked over at her in shock.

"Your aunt would let us?" She buffed her fingernails against her own bosom.

"Oh Shiny," she began, and he smiled at her. "Of course she would! Aunt Celestia would LOVE to be the one to do our ceremony. If anything, after Naruto and Derpy got married, she's been itching for the day we would." Possibly even more than _they_ were.

Aunt Celestia really wanted some grandkids running around. Blueblood wasn't exactly doing a good job of making that happen any time soon, either.

Shining Armor looked slightly pensive. Mi Amore Cadenza stared at her fiancee, and gave him a soft smile.

"It'll be perfect. It'll be a nice ceremony. Auntie will marry us, Naruto will be your best stallion, while I can have Derpy my bridesmaid and Spike will be our Ring-bearer. I can recall several of Twilight's friends that might want to be our flower girls. Dinky and Gallant could even give me away at our wedding!" He nodded through it all, expression relaxing, before he started to laugh near the end.

"Alright, alright, we can have it at the palace. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" He said, before kissing his soon-to-be wife. Leaning into the show of affection, she enjoyed it for the moment, before separating from her beloved.

"And we could also tell them the _other_ good news," she stated, as she rubbed her hand over her stomach.

Shining never felt more proud.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They'd moved from the field to the back of the Golden Oaks Library. The event going on between three of them, getting the others roped up into watching in curiosity.

"Come on Rainbow, you can do better than that!"

"Ah reckon she could, but Ah don't think she's going to beat us anytime."

"Grrr, shut-up you two! Get back to counting squirts."

Twilight looked on in amusement, as she, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, watched their three other friends try to outdo one another.

"Come on Dash! You can do it! 58!"

"Ah honestly can't believe that Spike's beating both of you guys. He doesn't even look tired! 64!"

"Maybe it has to do with his dragon side? 67!"

And from the back of each of the "contestants," came commentary. On the ground were Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, each of whom were in push-up position. On the back Spike was Sweetie Belle, while Apple Bloom sat on her own sister's back, with Rainbow being the one with Scootaloo.

Needless to say, that the prism-separated maned mare wasn't happy with the results.

"Ugh! Come on!" Rainbow pushed, arms burning something fierce, as she heard Scootaloo shout out a "60!" Sweat decorating her form, the weather captain had seen better days.

Applejack pushed up another time, a grin on her face, as she heard Bloom call out a "68." Her own form less sweaty than her pony friend's.

"Come on guys, I'm almost at 100! You just gonna let some little dragon tell beat you!" Spike couldn't help but boast, as he came up for another time. Sweetie's call of "72" had him smirking the whole way, as he was the least sweaty of the trio.

"Argh! Spike I'm gonna race you into the ground for this! Just you watch!"

"I'm enjoying where I am right now, thank you!"

Twilight couldn't help but to chuckle, as she watched on.

Hard to believe this started off as a simple punishment.

* * *

 _Twilight looked on at him in disbelief, as he looked anywhere else but her._

 _The others were just as shocked. They'd honestly never knew, which made this all the more shocking._

 _Twilight wasn't having this._

" _Get into push-up position, Wyrm!" Spike's body seem to run on auto-pilot, as he disappeared from the grips of the others, and was already in form before she finished the last word. His wings partially spread out._

 _Nodding at this, she proceeded to sit on him._

" _Dammit, this is going exactly where I think this is going, isn't it?" He questioned, only to have his adopted sister looking down at him._

" _One Hundred for your transition against the sibling treaty!" He made a face, before he say her reaching a glowing digit down towards his_ _ **Black Cross**_ _._

 _He was moving before she even got halfway._

" _1!"_

" _I want you counting louder!"_

" _ **2!**_ _"_

 _The others just looked on flabbergasted._

" _Uh… huh." Rarity._

" _Oh my…" Fluttershy._

" _ **She's got him whipped!**_ _" CMC._

" _Heheh. You got that right!" Pinkie._

" _Darn, Ah've never seen somepony_ that _quick to act, besides my brother when he's gettin' told off by granny." Applejack._

" _Hahahha! Enjoying the ground Spike!" Rainbow._

 _Spike had a few choice words about that._

" _Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow. I didn't realize_ this _looked hard to you. But we can't all be as strong as I am, so I completely understand- OW!" He stopped mid-push-up, to throw some shade, before being thwacked by a paper fan via his sister. They ignored the "Excuse me?!" they heard from their colorful pegasus friend._

" _I didn't say you could STOP, Spike! Let this be a lesson to you! Never try and hide things from family! I'm going to find out." He had opinions._

" _Blasphemy! Down with the oppressor! Ah!" She hit him once more._

" _You made this up when you were_ ten _, smart flank!" He cursed under his breath._

 _Hindsight was a female dog, as they say._

" _Wait a minute, you got something to say to me Spike?!" They forgot about Rainbow._

 _The duo of pony and dragon looked at the Element of Loyalty, as she sat there with her eyebrow twitching, arms crossed in irritation._

 _Spike smirked._

* * *

And here they were. Applejack joined in, because she found the competitive scene too good to pass up. All three of them were in the same push-up position, when they started.

"And this is the last twenty!" Came Applejack's shout, as she continued.

"Argh!" Rainbow pushed on, as Scootaloo announced a "74", in tandem.

"Come on Spike, 15 more to go!" The dragon could hear Sweetie Belle at his back, and he looked over to the mares at his side.

Yes, he'd come a long way under Naruto and Shining. Workouts like this were easy now, in comparison to what he did in the beginning, and he was all the happier for it.

Even with the gravity turned down from the 3.5 he had to the 2.5 now, he was still outpacing them. Applejack, not by much, but Rainbow he was pretty much beating out of the water.

That said, he still had one more card to play.

Twilight and company, could only watch as the sole male of the group switched from two-handed, to one-handed push-ups, continuing with the same pacing he originally had. Sweetie Belle, being the good helper that she was, adjusted herself, before holding onto the limb.

Obviously there was some reactions.

"Well Ah'll be." Applejack.

"Bull! Ah!" Rainbow.

"Rainbow's _really_ not liking that." Pinkie.

"That's impossible!" Scootaloo.

"Spike you sure about that?" Apple Bloom.

"Not to be rude, but is he going to be okay, Twilight?" Rarity.

"He'll be fine. He's done worse." Twilight.

"Ten more Spike!" Sweetie Belle.

Fluttershy merely looked on, in concern.

"Argh, dammit!" Rainbow chose that moment to collapse at the 85 mark, taking deep breaths, as Scootaloo quickly swung off her.

" **And done!** " Out came the dual calls of Applejack and Spike, as they finished the last push up. Both the fillies on their backs quickly getting off.

Applejack got to her knees, before falling backwards to sit on the ground. Spike on the other hand, stood up, and stretched his back. Looking over at the others, he grinned a cheeky grin.

"And _that_ class, is why we don't bet against a dragon. Any questions?" He leered down at Rainbow Dash, who gave him the sourest look possible, as Applejack merely laughed.

"Alright, alright Ah getcha, Yer built tough. Now Ah know why you come around to help with the harvest every now and then," the farm mare supplied, causing the dragon teen to laugh.

"I was always told that sometimes everything can be training. So why not help a friend, AND get some training in? It's a win-win for me!" He pushed out his chest, hands on his hips.

Having seen enough, Twilight walked over.

"Alright, everypony! I think that's enough for today. Besides, Spike," he looked over at her. "I believe _you_ have a date with a certain unicorn, in about… an hour?" His eyes went wide, before he dashed into the library.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

* * *

They were all back inside, with Twilight offering both Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, the use of amenities of the library.

"That's right. As soon as me and Spike came and moved in, we had to call in some construction workers." Twilight explained, as she and her three friends sat at the table in the middle of the living room. The Cutie Mark Crusaders currently weren't in the room, probably somewhere near where Spike was.

She hoped they listened, and stay the innocent ponies she hoped they were. Any funny business in her home was not to be tolerated.

"I see. There probably wasn't much room for both of you to have your space. Oh, dear you should have told us. We'd have been fine helping out, and giving one of you somewhere to sleep," Rarity, ever the generous one, offered. Pinkie and Fluttershy nodded their heads, though due to their own living conditions, they might not have been able to do much.

"Yuppers! While I don't think the Cakes have any more space, I'm sure I know a few ponies who wouldn't mind Spike as a roommate," the baker stated, as she turned in her seat.

Fluttershy simply smiled, but nodded her head.

"I'm sure I could give up some space, if that's okay."

"Guys I told you, it's fine." the librarian said, as she finished her cup of tea Spike made apparently before going to take his shower. Just then, the quartet heard a pair of hooves coming down the steps, revealing Applejack with a towel around her shoulders. Wearing a pair of sweatpants, and a white dress shirt.

"Thanks fer the bath Twilight. I'll be sure to bring back the shirt and pants." Twilight chuckled.

"No problem."

"Where's Spike anyway? Ah figured he'd been up and about already. Unless he left." The older of the two occupants of the library shook her head, and turned to the direction of a staircase leading to a lower floor.

Seriously what was he doing?

* * *

If somepony ever said that he'd have more girls in his room than just Dinky, he'd say… That they were probably right. It was bound to happen with how skewed the gender ratio was in Equestria.

That said, if somepony said he'd have that, _and_ he would be half-naked, well he might be a bit more skeptical, and call that guy crazy.

Turns out, he might need to apologize to that imaginary person.

"Girls please, can I just get dressed in peace?" He pleaded, as he currently rifled through his drawers, searching for a shirt to go along with the dark grey cargos he wore.

"We just wanted to see your room. I mean, it's not like you haven't seen ours," Sweetie said, as he looked at her with a flat expression. The unicorn filly was situated on his bed, staring at his back.

"Last I checked, I wasn't in the room when you were mid-change," the male explained, as he pulled out a black tank-top.

"Oh come on, what's a little skin between friends?" Scootaloo supplied from his side, staring at his wings. Her arms crossed, as she stared at one of the peculiar scars along the wing's edge.

"Oh sure, why don't you invite me over next time, when you just get done bathing. See how quickly your parents kick me out, Scoots," he rebuked her, only for her to grin.

"Sure, we can make a date out of it." He felt his eyebrow begin ticking, as he threw both the tank-top, and a mesh top on the bed, before he dove back into his wardrobe for more tops. He stepped away from the dresser, before going to his closet, and rifling through its depths.

"Come on y'all, don't be messin' with Spike like that. Besides, he already gotta special somepony." He sighed, as he listened to the lone piece of sanity in the room.

Well, he would call her that, were it not for the fact that she was going through his stuff.

"Bloom I appreciate the help, but would you please stop touching my gear! That's not a play thing. Scootaloo, don't make jokes like that. Dinky's already had to deal with a couple of fillies like that since she came to Ponyville," he said, causing the pegasus to blink.

"She does? Who?" she questioned, as Applejack's little sister stepped away from the sharpening kit he had in the corner of the room, whistling an innocent tune that nobody in the room believed…

"A couple of your classmates, actually. Lily Longstocks, Twist… Silver Spoon." The admissions caused the three to gawk at him.

"Wait, wait, what? Silver Spoon? As in Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon? When the hay did this happen?" Sweetie and Bloom looked over in interest, as Spike sighed. He pulled away from the closet, bringing a jacket vest with him, that was dark blue in color.

"Believe it or not, this started happening sometime around after the whole Nightmare Moon incident. I kind of helped them out, when I came late. Remember? I didn't come with Twilight originally to Ponyville." He began to put on the tank-top.

They watched as he slid it on, the muscled form of one of their male companions being shown off, as he struggled slightly to get the cloth over his wings. They were growing girls after all, and hormones were a thing, as much s they didn't understand them.

Scootaloo watched this "show" for a little bit, before she went over, and helped him. He muttered a quick thanks as she did, and shivered when her finger touched a sensitive spot on his wing ridge.

He quickly shoved on the mesh shirt, having her help again, and he shivered once more. He turned his head to look at her, but all she did was grin at him, causing him to deadpan.

"Anyway… Yeah, and Dinky's not exactly fond of the whole 'intrusion on her dragon.'" He grinned, as he finally put on the vest. Walking over to a mirror, he looked at himself, before turning around and presenting himself to the others.

"How do I look girls?" He flexed his wings out a little bit, before they went back to rest against his back.

All three of them sitting on his bed, they each made a square with their fingers, turning them every which way, before throwing him a thumbs up.

"Looking good!" Scootaloo.

"It looks good Spike." Sweetie Belle.

"It's nice, though why are ya asking us anyway? You probably been on how many dates this past year." Apple Bloom.

He shrugged. "It's never wrong to want a second opinion." That done, he moved over to his dresser, before prepping some cologne.

"And done. Good job, Spike. _Real good_." He self-praised, ignoring the giggles coming from the corner of the room.

"I'm good, and ready to go!"

* * *

When Spike finally appeared from the depths of the tree home, with the Crusaders in tow, those at the table were the full set of the Elements of Harmony.

Rainbow Dash looked up at the coming teenagers/pre-teens.

"Well if it isn't the dragon of the hour! So Spike, what's on the agenda for your date today, hmm?" Rainbow laid it all out on the table, pun not intended, and everypony was paying a decidedly large amount of interest.

The dragon felt his eyebrow begin to tick once more.

"Okay, one, I'm just going to do what we normally do. It's kind of like a date/hanging out." He could hear the whine from Rarity's part of the table, and chuckled. "I don't know what you guys were expecting. Dinky doesn't expect any grand, or anything. We've been friends since we were kids." He shrugged.

"Ooh! Ohhh, oooh, ooh!" He stared at the frantically waving pink hand.

"Uuhh, yeah Pinkie?"

"Well~ Why don't you tell us when you guys started dating?!" she asked, and the others began to nod their heads in unison, before they all turned their heads to him.

He rolled his eyes.

"We've known each other for years. I know her 'dad,' and well, we just decided to try it out. We were best friends, and figured, 'why not?.'" He shrugged his shoulders once more. "There isn't some magical reason to it. We knew each other, we dated and we've been dating ever since a year ago."

His point said, he walked over to the kitchen area, got a large cake from its depths, and set it on the table.

"Eat it with the tea." Seeing Twilight's empty cup, he nodded. "There's more tea on the stove. Now if you'll excuse me." He quickly dipped back into the fridge, bringing out a basket of some sort, before he walked to the front door.

"At least now I don't have to lie to Twilight anymore, about going over to hang with Snips and Snails." He took several steps towards the front door, before he froze, and realized that he'd just said that outloud.

He didn't doubt that that slapping sound of paper against wood was a certain fan.

He was out the door before she could get a word out, edgewise.

"300 PUSH-UPS!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

He walked on, mind running over his to-do list for the day.

"I guess we'll just find something random to do today. Her letter wasn't exactly picky," Spike mumbled, as he walked through Ponyville proper, idly waving at some ponies he recognized.

Ponyville was a pretty nice place, regardless of the insanity that went on seemingly every other week. A small rural town, it was nice and lacking of the rambunctious noise of Manehattan.

Spike had long since gotten used to Manehattan, so even now, a year later, the quietness of Ponyville was just weird to him.

Getting to Ponyville Square, he looked at the few stands around, taking notice of a few produce ones, and thinking about whether he'd be able to get some stuff after his date session.

'Maybe, but more likely than not, I'm gonna have to come back another day. Dinky is kind of a cuddler.' And she'd not be letting go for a while, not that he minded.

Taking his attention away from the stands, he looked at the large board in the middle of the marketplace. A few moments later, he was viewing some of the requests, and tapped his chin.

"Still no monster requests," he whispered, but that was not surprising to him.

Before today, anything even close to monster/Everfree/etc related, was seemingly delegated to his older pony companions. No one knew of the power he, or Dinky, held.

If one ever wondered, why nopony knew, well… Spike was sure it had to do with the fact that he and Dinky didn't want to.

About a couple months in, after just starting their relationship, Dinky had proposed that they not show off what they could do. Nopony knowing what they could do was better in the long run, mostly so they didn't get hounded by the others ponies in their age range.

Thinking back to the Crusaders' reactions, he'd have to say that she was right. That was just the Crusaders at the time, but he knew them, and they knew how to, at the very least, not go into his privacy 24/7. The other kids though, would probably pop up in his dates, and things would get frustrating at that point.

He stopped thinking for a moment, and blinked as he looked skyward. Noticing the placement of his mother's sun, he went wide eyed.

'I'm late!'

He panicked for a moment, wondering before deciding that running to Dinky's house was obviously the best choice. As he was about to, he took a single moment for thought.

So right, the cat was out of the bag, when it came to his friends. For as long as he, and Dinky, had been dating they'd had that self-imposed rule. So with everything out, could he just do things his way?

Or more, the _Naruto_ way?

'...Screw it.'

He looked to the rooftops, and leaped, before landing on stone tiling. He brought the magic within himself to the surface, his hands glowing, before he tapped on a corner of the wrist bangle.

The next moment, the dragon teen was bouncing from house to house, with a burst of speed, the likes of which nopony knew of.

He'd been honest with Rainbow. He was a faster "Runner" than he was a flyer.

 _ **~TCL~**_

She looked at her mirror, inspecting the visage that stared back at her.

"Maybe a little more crazy…" She muttered, her horn glowing, as she grabbed a bit of styling gel from an adjacent dresser. She kept her eyes straight ahead at her reflection, golden irises taking in the just-breaking-into-adulthood body.

A slender form covered by a form-fitting black top, and just-as-fitting grey shorts that came to her knees, she finished it off with a red camisole. Around this mare-to-be's wrists, were a pair of gold bangles, whereas her neck bore a dark necklace with a black, metal cross at its center. Her mane was pale yellow, just like her big sister's, and long, almost like her brother-in-law's.

Taking the gel in hand, she scooped out a good amount, before she ran her hands into her mane. Several furious motions later, she pulled her hands away, and stared at her mane.

The top portion, down to the nape of her neck, had a sort of feathery, spiked quality. The tresses leading down her back looking more like thin untangled vines.

She grinned her reflection. Pointing a fist at the mirror, pointer finger and thumb extended, she spoke.

"Bang! You're a knockout." She heard giggling from behind her, and turned to see her sister there.

"Enjoying ourselves a little bit sis?" Amethyst Star jokingly asked, as she walked towards the youngest of Rolling Barrel's children.

Dinky pouted slightly, as her sister took the messy strands going down her back, before using a rubber band to about the three-quarters mark. Taking a stray brush, she finished off, by brushing a few of the longer strings of mane, before showing Dinky to her reflection.

Looking at it for a few moments, Dinky chuckled, before hugging her sister.

"Thanks again, sis! Now, for the last touch." A quick motion of her magic later, and there were two bottles of perfume in her hand.

Watching Dinky picking between the two, Amethyst couldn't help, but smile in pride.

That little filly from 5 years ago was growing into a beautiful little mare. Looking around the room, she saw a couple of books, as well as papers with writing on them. On one of the few stray papers, she saw the words "Apprentice Application" with a large stamp on the upper corner.

'Moondancer is going to have her hands full when Dinky comes on up.' The middle of three thought, before turning her head back in her sister's direction. Dinky seemed to have chosen between the two scents, and decidedly finished.

"Okay, now, knowing Spike..." She stared at her left hand, for a moment. On the back of it was a large six-sided gem, inside of which was a trio of arrows that pointed in three directions. Focusing on the hand, a red sigil appeared, overlaying her Cutie Mark, before it shone a dim glow.

"Okay, I think he's running a little bit late, but he's going to be here soon. Thanks for the help Amethyst, I'm gonna wait outside." With her piece said, she left her room.

The older unicorn mare shrugged, before she left as well, but not before turning off the light in the room.

 _ **~Part 1 End~**_


	7. Changeling (Invitation)

_**~Part 2~**_

"I'm sorry! Excuse me!"

He had finally made to the front of her house, after making one last jump passed a pair of startled pegasi, doing his best to soften his impact.

There was a cloud of dust, that he quickly blew away with his wings, never noticing the opening of the door of his marefriend's house.

"Ack! I seriously hate those landings." The dragon commented, as he looked himself over, brushing a few stray dust patches on his clothes.

"You ended up here faster than I was expecting." Spikoran "Spike" S. Solaris froze at the sound of the voice reaching his earfins. He stood up straight, trying and failing to be the picture of nonchalant, and _not_ the guy who was just cleaning himself of dirt a moment ago.

He caught eyes with a thoroughly amused Dinky, before dropping the act with a weak smile.

"Um… I'm here?" He asked, more than said, causing Dinky to giggle at him. She closed the distance between them, before patting him on both shoulders.

"You had some dust here too." His eyes went wide, before looked to his shoulders, looking for said dust, only to come up empty.

He could hear her amusement again, as his marefriend's shoulders shook slightly.

"Oh, _ha ha_ , very funny." The dragon said, sarcasm floating from his lips, but there was no true bite behind it.

"It was." With her piece said, the youngest of three sisters looped arms with the adopted brother of the Element of Magic, and they walked.

* * *

A few moments later found the two of them still walking, but to the farther part of Ponyville. Nearby they could see a busied Cheerilee, who was currently sweeping the school's porch.

Seeing them, the dedicated teacher waved at the duo.

"Hello you two!" The main teacher of the small town gestured towards them, and they walked over.

"What's up Ms. Cheerilee? I wasn't expecting to see you here. You know, outside of the actual weekdays." Dinky greeted, as Spike nodded from her side.

The earth pony mare smiled at the unicorn teen, nodding at her.

"Just tidying up a bit, a clean workplace is a happy place. And a happy place, is a place where good-natured kids can learn freely." The pony with the smiling daisy Cutie Mark said, causing Spike to smile.

Cheerilee was one of the ponies he respected the most, out of all the those in Ponyville. Stemming back to when he was first learning under Naruto, she had the same never give up attitude, just towards teaching.

He could really get behind that, if he were ever her student, but alas he was not. Being with Twilight, Trixie and Moondancer, Spike was well beyond his peers in education. He'd helped the girls with projects and the like, pouring over scripts and formulas, ever since he could actually understand them.

When you had Twilight Sparkle as a sister, and was her assistant, you would be damn sure to KNOW any formula, by the end of your time with her. Adding onto that, Dinky's recent escapades into the more magical side of education, he'd been helping with, he was pretty well read.

"I can definitely see that, everything is going well-" Spike's question was interrupted by pair of groans coming from the school house, as a pair of familiar looking, orange and blue, colts exited the building.

"Who decided math needed to be more complicated, than some good ol' "2 + 2"? What the…? Oh, hey Spike!" The head of Snips snapped in the dragon's direction, as he and his cohort Snails, exited the place of learning, looking exhausted.

"Heya Spike~" Snails drawled,as he and Snips walked over. Dinky, and Spike, blinked before turning towards Ms. Cheerilee.

Seeing the questions in their eyes, she elaborated.

"I've also been doing some on the side lessons, for Snips and Snails. Who have been failing in their maths, and their brothers have been very strict on the idea of them getting good grades." The school teacher made sure to say _that_ particular bit, out loud, so the two could hear her.

Snips groaned, as Snails kind of stared at the pair of pony and dragon, before the "slow" unicorn spoke up.

"Uh, ah! So you guys going on another date again?" Snails asked, and Spike scratched the back of his head. Snips gave Snails a weird look.

"Yeah, I just picked up Dinky here, and we're gonna go have a picnic by… wait a minute." Spike stopped mid-sentence, before throwing Snails a shocked look along with Dinky. Cheerilee gave the two teenagers, a look with a quirked eyebrow.

"...What?" Snails seemed confused, as he looked at everyone sending him looks.

"Snails… Ho-What made you think me and Spike were dating?" Dinky quickly let go of Spike's elbow, as if burned, before she turned her questioning gaze onto the orange unicorn.

"Snails, what the hay are you talking about? Spike isn't dating anypony! IF he was, he would have told us." Snips refuted, causing Snails to look at him, before looking at Spike in confusion.

Spike sat there thinking for a moment.

While it was kind of widely recognized, that Snips was the "head" of the unicorn duo's MOs, Spike knew that Snails wasn't necessarily "dumb".

He was a simple colt, who just didn't want to look at things in a complex way.

It was honestly kind of fitting, really. Snails of all ponies, would be the one who found them out, but he probably thought that they didn't want to be bothered.

He could be quite considerate, all despite his, and Snip's, history.

"Snails you got it wrong, me and Spike are just… hanging out! Nothing date-like going on here, no siree." There was Dinky denying it, which caused Spike to look at her strangely, before the dragon remembered another fact.

'Oh yeah, Dinky doesn't know that the others know now… Hmm.'

Now Spike could just as easily continue their charade of not dating, in the eyes of the pony populace, in Ponyville. Anyone who saw them together, beforehand, was typically too far removed from them or just assuming of them being friends.

They kept PDAs to themselves, took their dates more towards the forests and overall just kept it under wraps.

Now though…

The teenaged dragon smirked.

"Yeah, see Snails, Dinky says they ain't dating. If a girl says it, then usually that's true, I think." Snips said, as Cheerilee gave him a conflicted look. Spike could sympathise.

That kind of mindset could go both ways, good or bad.

Well then, might as well clear this up.

Dinky for her part, was just glad to have dodged that bullet. She was careless, and almost had their cover blown, though part of her couldn't help but just want to end this charade.

'Well, at least things are back to normal. Relatively.' Now to leave, and go cuddle with her-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flurry of movement, as she felt Spike wrap his arms around her mid-section.

Her face wet red, as he pecked her on the cheek, and settled his head on her shoulder.

"Nah, we're dating, Snails was right. Ben doing so for a year now." The young dragon explained nonchalantly.

Cheerilee held a hand to her mouth, to cover her surprised expression, while Snips looked at him in outright shock.

"Since when?!" The blue unicorn cried, feeling betrayed. Spike chuckled maliciously.

" _Eleven months ago~_ " Snips looked like he was about to have a heart attack, and Ms. Cheerilee was looking on in intrigue.

"Ah, I knew it." Snails's slow response, was kind of unexpected, but Spike tossed him a raised eyebrow.

"Snails, exactly how did you know we were dating? Spike and I were doing our best, to keep it under wraps." Dinky finally spoke up, at this point just accepting that their secret was out, and settled her back against her drakefriend.

"Hmmm, I saw you guys a couple months back, when you came out of Everfree. You," he pointed at Spike. "Gave her a kiss. Like on the lips, and stuff." This admission caused both dragon and pony to glow red, as they tried to recall what day that might have been.

"...Oh man," Spike facepalmed. "That was when we went to speak to Zecora. Damn, that far back?"

Snails simply looked pleased with himself, as Snips still had a hard time processing what was said.

Cheerilee looked on, before she found her composure.

"Well, I'm happy for you two. I'm really surprised to find out you're dating, I've heard that some of my students, had taken an interest in Spike." Cheerilee stated with a smile, as Snips and Snails blanched at her.

"Wait, what?!" Snips.

"Woooow, Spike get's around." Snails.

Dinky had annoyed expression on her face, and grumbled a few choice words. Spike being as close to her, as he was, heard the terms "hers", "intrusion" and "nuisances", popping from her lips.

He felt sweat dripping from his brow, and decided that maybe they should leave, before Dinky got "started".

The grumbling female was snapped out of her state, when she felt Spike let go of her, and hook elbows with her once more. Looking at him, he smiled at her, before addressing their company.

"Well, we don't want to take up anymore of your time Ms. Cheerilee, so we'll make ourselves scarce. Later!" His piece said, the library assistant walked off, Dinky in tow.

"Ah, Spike! Mmmm, later Ms. Cheerilee! Later guys!"

Watching the two go off with a wave, both Cheerilee and Snails smiled.

Snips was still in shock.

"HOW?!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

"So they know now?"

"Yep, you kind of sent the letter at the exact moment, they found out I was more than I was."

They'd settled for a time, laying out on a picnic blanket, as they enjoyed the time in the bare reaches of Everfree Forest. They feared none of the beasts, that might reach the forestline.

Food was eaten and they spent time simply talking, laying next to one another, before she asked about his change in attitude towards their agreement.

"Huh… I guess we can stop hiding it now. I'm honestly relieved," Dinky stated. Spike looked over to his marefriend, as she sat up, and raised a finger.

The digit glowed a soft palish yellow light, before Dinky maneuvered her finger in the air, leaving trails in the form of the word "agreement". She proceeded to slash the finger through it, cutting the word in half, before she stuck her tongue out at Spike.

Spike's eyes became slanted, as he quickly closed the distance between them, and captured her lips with his own.

She squawked for a moment, before she relaxed into the kiss, before they fell back onto the blanket.

Still pressing down on hi, she grinned into the kiss itself, and moved it to "stage 2".

Spike's eyes widened, before she pressed her "attack", and he was moaning into the kiss before long. His eyes fluttered, as he looked at her pleased orbs, and he broke off the kiss.

She looked at him in shock, before they found their positions switched, and he cornered her between his arms, her back against the blanket.

"Somepony's been _naughty_ ~" She grinned up at him.

"Oh, and is some _dragon_ going to do something about it?" He didn't even respond, before he quickly launched a kiss to her forehead.

Right at the base of her horn.

" _Ah_!" Her shocked expression, paired with her bright red face, was all he needed, before he caught her lips with his own.

Moans, giggles and laughs, filled the air, as the two tussled on the sheet. Things came to a head, when Dinky reached under his earfin, and the male let out a small shriek, causing him to freeze.

She used strength, that was contradictory of her size, and Spike soon found himself, back on the blanket, his wings spread out slightly, to ease the tension.

She made sure to cuff his wrists with her own, and proceeded to straddle him.

He made half-hearted movements to break free, but relented soon enough. He grinned up at his girl, and she grinned back at him, hair draped over her shoulder.

He simply grinned, as she bent down to meet his lips with her own, and they stayed that way for a moment, before she came back up.

"Okay, you win." He admitted, as she smiled.

"Good to know, now cuddle me you adorable dragon, you."

He did as she requested, and soon the two of them were spooning, with Spike's wings folded to his back, a slight glow around them.

Gotta love spells that made laying on one's back, with wings, comfortable.

Speaking of comfortable…

"Hey Dinky?"

"Hmmm…?"

"You ever get the feeling we're being watched?"

 _ **~TCL~**_

They all just kind of sat there red faced, as the two teens decided to just lay there. The two's earlier session of rough kissing done, and over with.

If only it would leave their minds! There was nothing kid friendly, like she had been expecting!

Twilight's face burned a deep red, as she tried to shake the imagery she'd just seen. Looking around the table, she was thankfully not the only one, as several other red faces greeted her. Sans Fluttershy, who had fainted somewhere along the way.

"Well… Damn." Rainbow, ever the eloquent one, spoke up. The pegasus had been the one to originally offer up the idea, some form of payback on Spike for earlier.

Watching him roof-hop, to picking up Dinky, to the meeting Cheerilee and then to the two's little date spot, they saw it all.

 _Especially_ the kissing that seemed to explode post-meal.

Rarity, and Applejack, fanned themselves furiously, with fan and hat, respectively. The scene playing in their minds.

Pinkie was seemingly stuck in a giggling fit, as she twirled in her, originally stationary, chair. Her cheeks having a dark red, dusted across them.

The CMC were an array of expressions, with the most obvious one being embarrassment. Scootaloo coughed into her fist, as she looked off to the side. Apple Bloom's head was face down on the table, steam billowing from her ears. Sweetie Belle may have had it the worst, as she was in a trance-like state, giggling every so often, eyes dazed.

Twilight decided, that maybe peering into her adoptive brother's love life was unnecessary.

* * *

When Spike came home that day, he notices two things.

One, the others were gone, leaving just Twilight there.

Two, Twilight wouldn't look him in the eye.

That was a recipe for disaster.

"Um, everything okay there Twilight?" He inquired, and her face burned a furious color.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Spike swept the front of the Golden Oaks Library with a pep in his step. Eyes closed, as he sweeped with a hum, general disposition just happy.

A week had passed, since his, and Dinky's, secret got out.

He was ecstatic to finally have their relationship out in the open! No more, sneaking off to Manehattan or Everfree for dates!

He could be with his marefriend out in the open, and both of them couldn't be happier.

Though the initial reaction had been hilarious, especially for Dinky's classmates. Yet, he couldn't help, but feel uncomfortable by all the attention they were receiving from Twilight and the others.

It was weird. Like when they'd gone to Sugarcube Corner, a few days ago. Pinkie had taken one look at them, froze with a smile on her face, turned red.

Mrs. Cake had served them, but he couldn't help but be put off by that reaction. All throughout the date, he could see Pinkie looking over at them.

That wasn't even the weirdest one though.

Applejack had given him the straightest look possible, when he'd come by to help out ont he farm, the whole way through as they worked.

Rainbow wouldn't stop calling him a "casanova".

Fluttershy _fainted_.

Yet, it was Rarity who'd done his mind a stark blow, when she began offering him weird tips, when he'd let slip that Dinky and him trained.

REALLY _weird_ tips!

* * *

" _So she's used a whip in "training", hmm?" He saw the disbelief, when he used the word "training". He was a little put out, by this fact. Also, why was she muttering "they were too young?"_

" _Uh yeah, but she wasn't sure she liked it. I don't know what she's talking about, they definitely hurt enough." He rubbed a phantom pain on the side of leg, Rarity noting the action with a weird glint in her eye. "She started moving on to arrows, though." Rarity froze._

" _A-arrows?" Her voice squeaked, yet he could hear a slight shudder in her tone. An emotion lay underneath it, that he didn't understand._

" _Yeah,, but we blunt the ends of them, still hurts if she augments them enough. Plus her aim is pretty precise." Here his body shook. "Beyond accurate."_

 _Rarity seemed to teeter slightly._

" _But it's all good. We typically have safety words, for these kinds of things."_

 _Rarity's mind decided, then and there, that if they were to go into the world of adulthood. She would lead them! It was only natural that an adult take the through the paces._

 _Plus she might get some tips for her own… "interests"._

" _I think, I've heard enough Spike." She announced, with finality, before standing up, and facing him._

 _He blinked once, before shrugging, and turning to face her. He stopped though, when she looked him in the eye, with some sort of resolution._

" _I will lead you into the proper world of "training". Come along Spikey-Wikey, let your friend Rarity, teach you."_

 _He honestly had no idea what she was talking about._

* * *

He actually put some thought into that, and shudder for reasons he didn't understand.

Rarity had advised him into getting a specific suit for "training". He didn't understand why, but those words caused a sharp pang of dread to fill his being.

He'd have thought more on this dread, were it not for a certain feeling filling his gullet.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Well, damn, he finally did it."

"What was that, Naruto?"

Currently walking sitting down in seats at the Manehattan Moxy Pot, sat Naruto and Gallant. The young colt was currently devouring an Orange muffin, as his father looked over a, recently flaming, folded card. The mother of one, Derpy Hooves, came over to see what her husband was talking about, as she fixed the creases in her managerial uniform.

"Oh, we just got this from Shining and Cadence. Go ahead read it." The blond monarch said, passing the item of interest to his wife.

Looking it over, she squealed, fluttering in place slightly, as what she read on the card processed.

 _You have been cordially invited…_

* * *

She couldn't help, but laugh.

This, this was just too perfect!

A tall dark figure, was she. With a horn that bore holes, and a sharp point. Her body was a feminine shape, covered by a black, shell-like exterior. A seemingly ripped black dress dressed over her form, with the ends being frayed and the back of the dress coming down to the back of her knees.

Long dark teal membrane-mane ran from the crown of her head, to the small of her back. The bangs revealing emerald/teal eyes that glowed in the shadows of the home, she found herself in.

On the floor, lay a mare and a stallion. The tall being ignored the leftovers of her "dinner", and found herself gleefully checking over the card in her hands.

"Fufufufu~ I didn't think it was possible for me to be _this_ lucky!" Her voice echoed in an unnatural pair of tones. She walked passed the passed out pair of siblings, and found herself making a path towards, a waiting changeling with blue eyes.

Said changeling looked up at her, and she grinned.

"Return to the hive, it's time to put the final touches on our invasion." Her piece said, her horn glowed a malicious green, before the twin ponies found themselves placed back into their rooms, the card placed on a nightstand in their living room.

Best not to leave things amiss. A quick wipe of their minds, and the tall pony-esque form, began to glow. It reached a peak of blinding rays for a moment, before in an instant, she was gone. Leaving behind a home, being none the wiser of her intrusion.

The card, left on the nightstand, left folded over to show writing on the front.

 _Dear Lumen, and Bright…_

 _ **~TCL~**_

"...to the marriage of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Captain Shining Armor. We would be pleased to ask for your attendance in this great occasion.

P.S. Twily, I would really love it, if you would come. You and your friends are all welcome to attend.

P.P.S Cady really wants you, Amethyst and Derpy, as her bridesmaids. I wanted Spike as our ring bearer, with Dinky as the flower girl,.

P.P.P.S. I've already spoken to Naruto about it, and he'll be my honor attendant."

Looking up from the letter/invitation of their brother, Spike noted the looks on those gathered.

The whole group was looking at both of them in disbelief, sans Dinky, Amethyst and Pinkie, who looked excited.

" **You have a brother?!** " The collective exclamation could be felt, and Spike tned out the explanation (and song), that followed such a inquiry.

He was looking into the card, as he felt several presences make their way to his sides.

Dinky, and the CMC, looked over at the card in his hand. Having been done with it, he passed it to Dinky, who was now the one being swallowed by a group of girls.

He thought about it for a moment, before he grinned to himself.

He'd be seeing both Naruto, and Shining Armor, soon. It'd be awesome to catch up with the two of them, again.

They could read comic books, play games, crack jokes and beat the crap out of each other!

It'd be perfect!

He was broken out of his thoughts from the presence of Amethyst Star, the pink unicorn coming up to the side of him.

"What's up, 'Myst?" He noted the frown on her face, as the two of them looked over the excitement in the room.

"Hmm… I don't know? Call me crazy, but I can't shake the feeling that something is going to go down." She said, scratching the side of her noggin. Spike frowned for a moment, before smiling.

"I can get where you're coming from. As of late, lots of big stuff seem to happen near the beginning of, middle of and at the end of the year. It's Summer, and nothing has really happened yet." Here he shrugged at her look of concern. "But don't worry about it," he flexed. "You've got too many power players coming to the wedding. What could possibly happen?"

He grinned, and she did too, before she rubbed his head. He groaned, as she laughed.

"Well, I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Besides, I'm probably going to opt out on the bridesmaid deal, or at least, I better be the photographer for this wedding." She said with conviction, and Spike laughed.

Whatever came, they were ready.

 _ **~Part 2 End~**_


	8. Changeling (Background Noise)

_**~Part 3~**_

They watched on.

Some in worry, others in confusion and others in sorrow.

"I'm fine. I can handle this. Once my plan comes to fruition, everything will be fine. I won't lose anything. I won't change. I am **me**." There was a shudder, as the words were repeated.

They could only watch, helpless. As the figure stood up, and left the throne room, their eyes followed them all the way.

* * *

He stared. His body unable to stay still, as he looked at _it_.

He stared at how BIG it was. He didn't know anything bigger!

His grin was big enough to reveal his budding fangs.

"Giant TOAD!"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at his son, who was currently hopping all over the leaf they sat on, in a rather large forest, well outside the territories of Equestria.

He also wanted to spend some time with his little man before the wedding. So in the last few days before the ceremony, while Derpy was away, he and Gallant strode off to meet with the toads.

Well, that wasn't the _whole_ of it.

Turning away from the pair of Gamakichi and the rumbling ball of energy that was his son, the blonde looked towards Ma and Pa.

The two elderly amphibians gave him a sad smile, which had him frowning.

"Sorry Naruto-chan, but there's honestly no news on where he is. Ever since he was caught nine years ago, and his jailbreak a year later, nobody has so much as seen Sasuke," Ma explained, arms crossed. Pa hummed as he looked at Naruto's fallen expression.

"You were lucky enough that they honored your memory, at first, boyo. With this, Sasuke's all out of goodwill that your name could afford him. Hell even knowing of your 'passing' only seemed to calm him enough to not kill Sakura," the elder male said, and Naruto's face took on a complicated expression, before he sighed.

'Sasuke… what the hell is wrong with you? Are you honestly against us that much?'

He thought on this for a moment, trying to understand what could have been going through the avenger's head, such that he'd do what he did and disappear like that.

"Haaa, well, thanks for the update Pa, Ma," he said gratefully, causing both Shima and Fukasaku to smile. Right as they did, they could hear the whooping and cheers of a certain red-headed hybrid child, as Gallant fluttered about Gamakichi. It seemed that the toad had taken a liking to Naruto colt, as the larger than life amphibian was smirking the whole way, and bouncing the three-year-old on his palm.

Naruto smiled at this. No matter how many times he looked back to that moment, when he held his own child in his hands, the feeling was still indescribable to this day.

Family... The thing he'd sought for so long, and even now he had trouble holding in those bloated emotions of pride, joy and completeness, that it brought him.

He would have been happy to just sit there, and bask in the feelings… but alas, he could not.

Mostly because-

"Ah, We've finally found you. So, disgracer of linen, have you come to finally receive your just punishment?"

That.

'Whelp, time to work out somepony's hostility.' With that thought, he waved off Ma & Pa, towards Gallant. They didn't need to be told twice, both of them smiling as they hopped off to their weirdly related god grandson.

Nodding them off, he turned towards the Princess of the Night, who's displeased expression wavered slightly at the sight of the giant toad in the background.

He snickered, catching her attention, as well as redoubling her ire.

"So thee has finally prepared thyself for the 'can of asswhooping?'" Were he a smarter sort, he might have been a little more tactful.

Naruto Uzumaki was not.

"HAHAHAHAHA, oh god!" he hollered, tears in his eyes, as he rolled on the floor. "I'm never going to get tired of hearing you try and use slang!"

He didn't notice the irritated expression on Luna's face begin to worsen.

"O-okay, hehe," he let out one more giggle. "Okay, so how we starting this?"

His answer, to be fair, was a fist to the face.

* * *

Gallant finally settled, as he watched his father get launched across the forested area. The princess looked please with herself, before she flew after his form, giving chase.

The little colt blinked, just as he was joined by a pair of familiar old toads.

"Grampa, Gramma!" The little ball of fur, and scales, smiled widely, as he was enveloped by a pair of joyful amphibians.

"Jiraiya-chan!" Shima croaked, being caught up in hugging the daylights out of her grandson. Fukasaku detached himself quickly, and with a smile, as he watched the two embrace more and Shima began rocking with the little hybrid.

" **Hmph, seems like even Naruto's kid has better taste than him. HOAHAHAH!** " Gamakichi couldn't help but remark, his form shaking with laughter.

Gallant had been a welcome surprise, when they'd found out about him. Pa and Ma had been the only ones who could go see the child usually, but since they were out in this large space, Gamakichi could finally meet with his sworn brother, and his child.

He really liked the kid.

"Oooooh~! Daddy get her!" Gallant cheered, as the flying form of a certain princess came flying past, and then through several trees.

* * *

He grinned at his handiwork, looking down at the small mound of collapsed trees.

He'd been looking for a good way to truly get rid of all this tension he'd been feeling as of late. It all coming from the fact that he could feel the changelings.

 _Lots of them_.

Maybe there was some sort of unrest, or it could have been something to do with those Queens he learned about from Roamure and Lavae. Either way, he'd been sure to tell Celestia of it before coming here. Especially the jump in the amount of encroaching changelings he'd felt on the outskirts of Manehattan, near Canterlot, as of the past week.

He'd been feeling this all around in recent years and it was getting him wound up in a knot. What the hell was going on?

Celestia had said that she'd have Shining do something about it, at least for the duration of the wedding, possibly even a couple days beforehand, so that was at least helping keep his mind off it.

Clearly all this stress hadn't been good for him. Derpy even noted as much, and suggested he try and relax somehow.

He loved his wife dearly, and he remembered how thinking of that made him remember somepony who'd probably be more than up for trying to beat his ass.

As he was thinking this exact thing, there was a blast of shining blue from the tree pile.

Enter Luna, who had quite the ability to hold a grudge. He shifted his jaw a bit, and nodded.

Also a mean punch too.

The dark furred Princess of the Night gave him a stare from where she was, and dusted off her moon themed Qipao.

"Hmm, We seem to have underestimated you," she began, causing him to settle his hands on his hips.

"Oh, you would not _believe_ how many guys have done the same. They also ended up with the same result." He allowed his chakra to flow, vibrant blue wisps treading lightly over his outer shell-skin.

Luna looked on, for a moment, before a glint entered her eyes. Her hair flowed in the nonexistent winds, before she unfurled her wings. Eyes closed, she hummed, as her horn glowed.

"Yes, We can only assume that thou has handed them quite the defeat." Her eyes snapped open, bright white glows staring back at him. "Make no mistake, We will not be doing so again."

It was on.

"Bring it pony princess!"

"Face our wrath!"

And so they clashed.

 _ **~TCL~**_

He felt enormously better. Even in the destruction of a couple acres of forest, he felt like this was the right way to do things.

Even as Pa and Ma patched him and Luna up, the blonde couldn't help but feel accomplished.

'Oh yeah, this was a GREAT idea, ow.' He winced as a particular bandage got wrapped on tight. A fierce patting by Pa, who sent him a smirk, as he finished his work on the blonde.

Returning the expression, he looked over to Ma, as she finished Luna's own bandages, complaining to the young princess about how reckless she was. The pony princess seemed unsure, probably because she'd never been tended to by a toad before.

She'd get over it.

Catching her gaze with his, she sent him a look of acknowledgement, and he knew now more than ever, that it was a _genius_ idea to come out here.

What didn't beating each other's ass accomplish again? Take that Celly!

"It seems that We've misjudged you, despica-Mr. Uzumaki." He held up a hand to stop her.

"You can just call me Naruto. Your sister does it, and I think we've beaten enough out of each other to say we're friends," he explained, as she looked at him in slight confusion, before she smiled.

She definitely understood why her sister liked Naruto so much.

"Oh right, Naruto-chan!" The Changeling monarch blinked, as he looked to Shima. The female toad made a handsign, before a large scroll appeared in a poof of smoke.

"It's been so long, but…" Unfurling the rolled up parchment, a seal was revealed, before she made another hand sign.

There was another cloud of smoke, before the item was revealed.

Naruto gaped, before a grin spanned the entirety of his lips. Luna and Gallant looked on with a tilt of their heads. Gamakichi and Pa smirked and smiled, respectively.

"Ma, you rock!"

 _ **~TCL~**_

They looked to one another, each of them seated on their thrones.

It was weird to have another meeting like this. It was weirder knowing the exact reason for _why_ they were here.

There was a clap of hooves against stone, as the two monarchs felt the entrance of their familiar third.

Aurelia and Nympha watched as their sister arrived. Her body clad in her typical long, end tattered dress.

They couldn't help but notice several things that were "off" about her.

For one, it was the physical differences that came first. The slightly off-color of her membrane-mane, which was usually a dark teal. It was now a shade darker, and the color was beginning to shift in a few places. From dark teal to seeming black.

That was worrying enough, but then they took note of the "feel" of her, and it was obvious something was wrong.

When it came to a changeling's Preference, they would usually be imprinted on their being.

Nympha's Chastity, Aurelia's Prudence and Pragmatism, Cocoona's Wisdom, Pupa's Ambition and Chrysalis's was supposed to be Love.

Blues didn't seem to have a Preference, the lucky bastards, but that's because they held the adaptability trait. They could peruse any field of Preference without worry.

Unlike all of the other Hives, where other emotions could react badly to the body.

So why in Tartarus, did _Chrysalis_ , feel like a mix of Love, and more?

The newly entered monarch walked her way, and took her place on her throne of dark marble, emeralds and inky scripture. Her own emerald green eyes, peering to each of her sisters, before focusing forward.

Her eyes closing, the older of two twins leaned back into her seat, the two younger monarchs staring at her in unease.

Taking a deep breath, Aurelia let it out in a slow exhale, before moving on with the main point of this meeting. That said, her eyes never left the calm looking Chrysalis, whose eyes had yet to open.

The only acknowledgement she could glean from her, was a slight tilt of Green Hive leader's head.

...Okay then.

"So I'm sure that you're all wondering why I summoned you here. Well, I'm sure Nympha already knows, considering you didn't show up to the last meeting Chrysalis," Aurelia said, matter-of-factly. The redhead of the group looked at her twin with a slight suspicion, even as the eldest of them frowned.

"What do you mean?" Chrysalis spoke, even with her eyes closed. Nympha actually snorted, crossing her arms, looking pleased with herself.

"This what you get for literally skipping the one time we meet on 'good' terms. Have fun with the answer," the younger of the twins stated with a smirk.

Chrysalis felt her irritation grow, before she felt a thump in the back of her head. Holding a hand to her noggin, near her horn, she rubbed it.

'No surprises. Stay in control, and don't lose it.' She didn't need any surprises right now, but as long as it wasn't anything big…

Turning her head towards Aurelia's direction, a slight slit in her eyelids peered at her youngest sibling.

"It's come to my immediate attention," Aurelia looked at Nympha who was sitting back in her throne, "that there is another monarch in our midst." Even though she said this, her mind ran rampant with already over thought ideas.

Where they came from, who they were and, probably most importantly…

How strong they were.

It'd be wrong of her to say this, but she wanted a strong opponent. Battle didn't happen between two weak individuals, no, it happened between the STRONG. That was an ironclad rule of the world.

Her mind ran back to when she'd gotten back to her hive, after the meeting with Pupa. How angry she'd been to know that one had slipped through the cracks. How confused, and irritated, she was to know that more competition existed.

How excited she was, to see whether she stood atop this new monarch. She felt her fingers clench, as the boiling in her veins simmered.

That said, she turned her attention outward, and watched on.

The reactions were… not all as she expected.

"That fucking brat!" Nympha's curse was to be expected. Sure they'd been warned, but it could have very easily been a fluke of someling who'd not known better. Any alternative was better than having to deal with another monarch.

" **!** "

Both Nympha and Aurelia turned, and froze, as one. Chrysalis in her chair clenched the armrests, as emerald eyes burned bright. The green vapor that seemed to sprout from her crown folded and flickered. Protrusions that dipped between solid and ether.

Yet that wasn't the most… _unsettling_ thing about her that they had bore witness to.

The Green Queen's hands, clenched, and cracked the armrests of her throne. Her magical signature shifted, the greens growing slightly darker, before coming back to normal color, sporadically.

Neither of the two of them moved, as Chrysalis's face twisted into a snarling grimace. Small unintelligible words leaving her lips too fast to catch wind of.

" **I'm fine. I'm me, I'm going to keep them safe! I own them, they respond to me and me alone. MY hive! I'm in control.** "

The next moment saw the display of unsettlingly energy calming down. Chrysalis's membrane-mane even seemed to return to its natural teal, yet neither of the two of them moved. They had felt too much of whatever the fuck that was.

Love, Panic, Reverence, Fear, Inspiration, Indignation, Shame, Humiliation, Ambition.

 **Hate**.

They could only feel their hearts beating again once the eldest of them began to breathe heavily, deep ragged breaths exiting her slightly shuddering frame before she stilled.

Her "episode" over, Chrysalis's head rose, and her eyes lid slid upwards.

The two others spoke nary a word, as shimmering green, and white, eyes peered back at them. Chrysalis noted their expressions, and smiled.

She spoke.

"Tell( **Speak** ) me ( **to us** ) of( **of** ) this( **this** ) monarch( **threat** ), Aurelia ( **sister** )." The Yellow Hive Mind Leader could only stare. Her mouth opening as she tried to failed to articulate.

Nympha had no such obstacle.

"What the _fuck_ was that?!" The "succubus" sounded out, as she stood from her seat. Aurelia fell from her trance, but she quickly turned her eyes towards her other sister. Her mind catching up with her, her brows narrowed, and she turned back to the smiling Chrysalis.

"Chrysalis… what have you done?!" She too stood from her chair, as the eldest in the room frowned.

"That's( **That** ) not( **was** ) what( **not** ) I( **what** ) asked( **I** ), Aurelia ( **asked, sister.** )." The second born stated, much to the annoyance of the two other monarchs.

"Fuck what you're asking! What the crap is wrong with you?!" her twin spoke, as always, in that crude tone of hers, causing Chrysalis's expression to darken.

"Nympha-! ( **You dare-!** )"

"Chrysalis answer the question, what did you do?!" Aurelia's voice rocked in her ears. She could feel the spike of pain in her noggin begin to build.

"I-( **We-)** "

"What's going on?!"

"Just answer, Chrysalis?!"

"Shut up( **Quiet** )-"

"You have three seconds before I end your hive right here, right now!"

Her mind froze, as she registered those words.

 _ **~X~**_

 _Her hive? She would threaten_ her _hive?!_

 _ **She is foolish.**_

 _To raise a hand to her hive, is reward with nothing short of EXECUTION._

 _ **We are her betters. WE are ALL their BETTERS.**_

 _Such insolence!_

 _ **She would rise to oppose US?!**_

 _No, she must learn her place!_

 _ **There must be no doubt!**_

 _No_ _ **one**_ _crosses_ _ **US**_ _._

 _ **No one crosses CHRYSALIS!**_

 ** _~X~_**

 _ **SILENCE!**_

The two demanding monarchs' forms froze. The blood running through their bodies seemingly iced over, as a pressure gripped their hearts.

* * *

Anyone watching the meeting place of the Monarchy would swear that the area shifted. Large divots in the area surrounding the large structure. An oppressive feeling as magic of a dark coloration ran rampart from the pores of the ancient birthbed.

Plants wilted, rocks crumbled, and the world catered to the intent behind this power.

Then, all at once, it stopped.

* * *

Sweated plastered their clothes to their bodies, their shallow breathing being the only sounds they felt allowed was allowed.

That they felt _she_ would allow them.

Nympha shook in her seat, as the finger of the figure ran from the bottom of her neck area, to the tip of her chin. Her red eyes staring into bottomless forest green, as her sister caught her chin in her hand.

Slit pupils stared into her twin's own, eyes peering down on her help form.

"You will speak only when spoken to for the rest of this meeting. You shall not speak out of turn, you shall not show your grievance unless allowed." Here the clawed fingers holding her chin tightened, a slight "crick" being heard as pressure was applied. "Finally, you will have no _foolish_ intentions towards my hive."

Green eyes glowed, and it took Aurelia all of a moment to realize what her, currently present, eldest sister was doing.

Geas. A magical agreement between two individuals.

Yet, what she was watching at this moment was no such thing. There were no two parties agreeing to a set of terms.

Only a master giving rules to a slave.

It wasn't hard to believe that Chrysalis had the power to do this. To force what was supposed to be a contract onto another. What made it scary was that she could enforce it over another monarch, such as Nympha. To even do such a thing meant that she had enough will to enforce over her sister.

Enough pure magical power that she could overwrite the magical acceptance from the other parties' end.

Magic was Chrysalis's forte, but this was beyond even that.

What had she done?

When the glow passed over Nympha's own orbs, the redhead's chin was released, before Chrysalis's eyes turned in Aurelia's direction.

The Yellow Hive Queen couldn't stave off the fear that grew with each of her sister's steps.

* * *

When the sound of her hoofsteps finally began to recede from the chambers, they didn't move.

When the feeling of her leaving the structure came, they stayed still.

Only when she was far enough away from them, did either of them do anything.

Aurelia turned her head towards her older sister, and pity erupted from the deepest pits of her heart.

Nympha sat there, her form more laying over the chair then in it. Her eyes shadowed by her mane, but she could see the tears running down the sides of her face, causing her to turn her head away from the sight.

To rule a hive was to have complete and utter control. To be able to command numerous, and possibly indefinite, amounts of thoughts.

A monarch's greatest tool was to have a sole mind. It was their greatest pride amongst even their hives.

For only they could stave off the burdens of being the central mind.

To lose that control for even a moment was horrifying. To have it impeded upon, and overwritten?

The shuddering form of her sister, a great reminder of what had transpired.

Especially the task that Chrysalis expected of them.

 _ **~X~**_

" _Hmph." She stared at the shaking form of Nympha, her eyes revealing nothing. No remorse for what she'd done, not pity for that who shed done it too._

 _Aurelia only watched as the eldest among them stared for a few moments, before she spoke, beginning to leave the cavern._

" _In a few days' time, I will be invading Canterlot."_

 _Yellow eyes went wide._

" _You are to show up once, and remain on standby until I've signal my own changelings to attack. We will overturn the princesses."_

 _ **~X~**_

She held a hand to her head, and scowled at it all.

All because of some damn monarch.

Taking one last look at Nympha, she left her old birthplace.

She had a hive to inform, of their… "arrangements."

* * *

When she finally returned to her hive, she did not greet her subjects.

She did not greet them as she passed through intersecting, randomly opening and closing pathways.

She continued on. Past her throne room and the clan houses.

When she stopped, she came upon a single monument. Obsidian black, not unlike her throne, and trapezoid like. On it were scripture of mixed pony languages, each word a different one, but she could read it all the same as if it were one.

This was one of five, each of her sisters having one. It was one of the last things they all agreed upon besides their peace grounds.

She could see the many changelings kneeled in their various poses, each praying to the All-Mother. HER mother, who'd been the first, and greatest of the Monarchy.

She stood there for a moment as eyes quickly turned her way, before she uttered a quick command.

"Get out." It was spoken in normal volume, but the effect was the same, as if she'd shouted them out. Changelings disappeared from the lone entryway to the Obelisk Monument.

This room was special, in that no random openings were made here. She'd made sure of that back when she made her hive home. The materials, spells and mixtures that made Changeling Hives were a well-kept secret for the hive-memories.

Once she was absolutely sure that no more of her subjects were around, she walked towards the Obelisk, and kneeled at its front.

Chrysalis's body let out a shudder as her shoulders shook. She let her head bow to the statue, as wet lines fell down her visage. Her hands becoming claws as they scraped at, and crushed the dirt beneath them.

"M-mother… I'm so sorry," she wept.

She'd done something she knew she was not to do. She'd gone beyond her own compass of right and wrong, and done so to her own twin.

Shame and disgust, was what stood at the forefront of her mind.

All at herself.

"A **h**!" She felt pain shoot through her skull once more, and hissed, yet the tears continued.

Staring into polished black stone, the reflection of green and black eyes, leaking with tears, greeted her.

 _ **~TCL~**_

She stared at the sights, in wonder. He'd, to be honest, wasn't use to the architecture of her current location.

She'd heard about Canterlot from her mother, but Pupa had only ever _heard_ of it. Being here was a whole different thing!

Transformed into a short, teenaged, unicorn mare, the changeling heiress traveled the streets. She wasn't going to be here long, just a quick trip to find some ambitious ponies, and she'd be gone faster than someling could say-

An "oof" fell from her mouth, as she found herself bumping into something, or someling.

"Ah! Trixie is sorry young one! Trixie wasn't watching where she was going!" Blinking once, as she rubbed her rump, she looked up as a blue furred hand came into view.

Azure colored fur, pale purple eyes and a mane of various pale shades of blue, with a slight curl on a hair lock, greeted her.

Grabbing the offered hand, allowing herself to be picked up, she got a good look at the stranger.

Dark, loose slacks covered this adult mare's legs, which was complemented by a dark blue, sleeveless dress shirt, an azure bow affixed to her shirt's collar with a black, metal cross in the middle. On top of the mare's head was a purple hat with stars and crescent moons decorating it.

All in all, she cut quite the professional figure, if Pupa was to be honest. She couldn't help but lick her lips, as she looked at the unicorn, her instincts going crazy.

How ambitious was this pony?

"It's fine," she said in a slight daze, only for the mare to shake her head.

"Nonsense! The Majestic, and Courteous, Trixie will apologize the only way she knows how!" She assumed the mare's name was Trixie, as she reached behind her, to pull out what could only be a box.

'Where'd she pull the box from?' Pupa wondered, before a scent hit her nostrils.

It smelled sweet, and if the gurgling of her stomach was anything to go by, was making her more than a little hungry.

She wouldn't mind some sweets along with that Ambition.

"Fresh from Donut Joe's, Trixie allows you two in apology." Hearing the sincerity in the mare's words, she selected two, before they walked towards a bench.

Sitting down, and settling into her food, she hummed in contentment. Trixie, seeing this, smiled as she took one for herself.

They settled into a simple, but comfortable, silence, their minds occupied with eating more than small talk.

Finishing off her donuts, Pupa licked her lips, and felt slightly more content. Watching as Trixie was going to town on her own baked good, Pupa allowed herself to "feel."

The Ambition from the mare beside her was doing well to fill her other hunger. It was scary how quickly she began getting "stuffed."

Trixie froze as she swallowed her last donut, before she looked down to Pupa at her side, and tilted her head.

Holding a hand to her chin, she observed the joyous look on the disguised changeling's face, before her fingers snapped.

"Ah ha, so master, you've returned!" Pupa awoke from her "feeding," before she sent a look to Trixie.

"Huh?" Trixie grinned at her, before she bowed.

"Trixie wasn't expecting to see you so soon, but she figured that since it's Prince Armor's wedding coming up, Trixie should have known." Pupa stared at the blue pony in confusion.

"I'm not following."

"No need to worry, master. Trixie understands the need to make a _glorious_ entrance. Now your form makes a lot more sense." Alarm bells began ringing in changeling heiress's ears, as she processed what Trixie said.

"W-what makes you think I'm this "master" of yours?" Trixie smiled, chest puffed out, which gained a slight amount of Pupa's ire, before explaining.

"Why, master's the only changeling in Canterlot, of course."

Pupa's mind stopped, as she heard both the fact that her cover was blown, and that this mare apparently knows the changeling she might have been looking for.

"Uhhhh…" she stalled, as she tried to think up a good way of dealing with this. That was before Trixie leaned down to her height, and winked.

"It's okay, your secret is safe with Trixie. Now, Trixie must go. She has arrangements that must be made, before she visits Moondancer." With her piece said, the adult mare began to walk off, her box of goodies disappearing again.

Pupa felt relieved, until she remembered the whole reason she was here, and her ticket to finding the changeling was walking away.

Thinking quickly, she ran off after Trixie.

"WAIT!"

Hearing this, Trixie stopped, and turned to see her "master" coming up from behind.

"T-Trixie! My s-student!" She stuttered. "You see; your master is in need of your help?" The statement came out more like a question, and she facepalmed mentally.

Noling was going to-

"Haha! Trixie knew it. Master can believe in Trixie!"

Pupa was forever grateful for how gullible some ponies were.

* * *

"Over there, is the new complexes built by Fancy Pants. Fleur De Lis is going to be pushing for more fashion lines to be in Canterlot…"

"Mhmm."

She'd spun a tale of her having lost her keys to her home. Seeking the help of a wayward student wasn't weird for that, right?

"Ah, and there's the Sparkle home. Trixie's nemesis has long since removed herself, but she sees her from time to time."

"Well she must be silly Sandy, to try and take you on." She had to play this right.

The first rules to going undercover, as someling you didn't know, was to be vague. Agree with most of what the being you were tricking was saying, and act accordingly.

She could only see the back of Trixie's head, but the unicorn nodded.

"Correct."

They were moving past the residential district, and into the park areas. She noticed they went further, and further into the park, before they were surrounded by trees.

'Does this monarch, really live so close to the ponies?' She wasn't bothered by the fact that they were leaving the housing areas.

Changelings could live anywhere. Above, or below, ground. It made no difference. An evolutionary trait, if you will. Most simply chose to stay above, because it was far less dangerous than dealing with what could be below.

Mother had told her that Aurelia preferred the underground method, compared to the rest of her aunts. It wasn't unusual.

So when they stopped, she wasn't worried.

Rule 1: remember your backstory.

"So I gave you a key, aren't you going to pull it out?" Pupa's eyes zoomed around. It was very likely, one of the trees was a "door", to "her" abode

"In a bit master, I just need to check something." With that said, she kneeled to the floor and began to do something with her fingers, her horn glowing the same shade of color as her eyes.

Pupa only watched on, mind jumping with plans on how she was to approach this changeling monarch.

She had to approach them carefully. Calmly, but not desperate. Being smooth was imperative.

It was at that moment, that she caught sight of something by the trees in the park.

In the, strangely darker looking, shadows of the park, she thought she saw something glowy move by the trees.

She took several steps back, towards Trixie.

"Hold on, master." Pupa heard, but her eyes were glued on the shadowy trees. The next moment, she heard growling, and flinched.

The glow was back, and she could make out the form of something slinking its way through the park.

The next moment, it disappeared.

Silence, nothing made noise. She couldn't even hear the sound of Trixie behind her. She'd have turned around, but she was afraid to do so.

"Trixie, Trixie!" She whisper-yelled. Trying to catch the mare's attention.

She reached behind her, as she moved backwards, but kept coming up short.

Taking another critical survey of her front, she quickly turned around to look for the monarch's student.

'Wha…?" Where was Trixie?

In that instant, her body froze, as _something_ invaded her personal bubble. She looked forward, as a slight glow threw shadows over her own form.

She gulped audibly, before mechanically turning around, and coming face to face with an "animal."

Its body was made up of strings of light, with a wispy blue aura filling "between the lines." The form it took was that of a rather large Tiger that she could only meet at the nose. She stared into its incandescent eyes, and didn't move.

"Well, 'master'..." She felt her eyes widen, as the form of Trixie moved around the side of the creature. Upon her face was a displeased expression, that sent a rod of fear into her heart.

"Why don't you and me, _talk_?" She snapped her fingers, and the tiger growled.

Pupa only nodded.

* * *

Trixie looked down at the, now undisguised, changeling girl with a contemplative expression.

The tiger she'd brought out earlier gone, as she stared down the heiress, who currently sat with her knees tucked beneath her.

She stared harder, as she cupped her chin.

"Hmmm, you seek Trixie's master to speak with him?" Pupa nodded quickly, as she kept her eyes focused on Trixie herself.

Pupa noted that the shadows form before, that seemed to envelope the clearing, had disappeared. The sun above, shining down through the trees, as birds chirped in the background.

She was still reeling from the total sensory deprivation from before.

Did this "Trixie" mare end up doing that?

"To be more specific, I need speak with him about something personal." She needed this now. If anyling could have a way to help her mother, it'd be the Hive-memory of a monarch, more likely than not.

She couldn't go back without a solution. For her mother's sake.

"Well… Trixie understands where you're coming from. That said, right now, all you can do is wait." Pupa blinked in confusion, before she remembered something Trixie said earlier.

 _ **~X~**_

" _Trixie wasn't expecting to see you so soon, but she figured that since it's Prince Armor's wedding coming up, Trixie should have known."_

 _ **~X~**_

She groaned, as she realized two things.

One, she should have been paying more attention to Trixie talking. Rule number one doesn't mean anything if your backstory doesn't match what you're trying to emulate.

Two, her mother was going to kill her for messing up rule _one_.

"So I guess this 'Naruto' changeling isn't going to be here until the wedding? What, is she the bridesmaid?" Pupa asked.

The idea that anyling would know of a changeling in their midst, and openly accepting them? Now she knew she'd made the right choice in coming here.

Her hopes were soaring higher and higher, with each passing day.

Trixie threw her a funny look.

"Silly little filly, Trixie's master is male," the mare said with a grin, hands on her cocked hips.

"Oh really? That's ni-" Pupa froze mid-sentence, as she rewound her mind a sentence.

Trixie's master is male.

Is male.

 _Male_.

"What?!"

* * *

"Ahh! Hehe, I've almost forgotten how good it was in these rooms."

"Geez, Princess Celestia really knows how to give you a sweet room Cadance."

"Right?"

They'd arrived three days before the actual ceremony, and it currently was the second of the three.

"Getting some pre-wedding jitters, _honey_?" Cadance's emphasis on the word, still had him blushing up a storm. He still chuckled as he sat on the bed beside her.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he threw her his best "suave" smile, and found her grinning in a pleased fashion.

"I'm always jittery when it comes to a beauty like _you, my dear_." The pink alicorn's cheeks burned, as she giggled, causing Shining Armor to grin.

"Oh you! I knew those lessons were suspicious! Who would have thought Naruto was good at being suave?" They both laughed at the fact.

Ever since the changeling had been stationed in Manehattan, he'd been doing several things in his downtime.

One of those things had been holding, and acting in that little charity event by the "Kindheart" mare ever since she left.

When possible, they all had even gotten chances to act in plays and the like. Some plays, Naruto had fashioned after events from where he said he'd come from.

Manehattan had never been more ninja crazy than it had been 2 years ago,

Chuckling a little bit more, Cadance stood up.

"I think it's time I too truly enjoy what the palace has to offer," she said with a wink, and Shining couldn't help but groan pitifully.

Having been together for well over 5 years, they'd had sex, and while Shining had never been with somepony else, he thought it was the best sex he'd ever have in his life. While they weren't deviants, Cadance, unironically, loving "vanilla," they'd had sex at least once a week.

Celestia bless conception spells.

Which is why he slumped, as Cadance pat him on the back.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad. Remember, after the ceremony, it's going to be that much better." She winked at him. "Just a little perseverance." With a kiss to his temple, she walked off.

Watching those hips of her in their natural, _beautiful_ sway, Shining Armor prayed to Celestia to give him the strength to endure the coming trials.

* * *

"Ahhh~ This is glorious~" Cadance sighed, as she set her body into the bathrobe.

It was nice to use the royal bathrooms.

"Hmm, it's going to be nice to just snuggle on the bed, before getting ready for the rehearsal of the ceremony," she said.

Stretching her back, flaring her wings slightly, she exited the bathroom.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Princess Cadance?" The pink alicorn heard from her side, and squeaked.

"Eh?! Oh, I didn't see you there… I'm sorry, I don't know you." Cadance stared warily at the earth pony attendant she knew wasn't there beforehand.

An off-white coat, with black eyes and a neatly combed dark green mane-cut, she was slightly unique, but it was mostly the hair alone that did anything. She was even wearing the standard maid uniform (Which Cadance was sure she had submitted a petition to change).

The only thing that was unique, apart from her mane color, was a necklace around her neck.

It was black, and made up of numerous, diamond-shaped segments. For its center was a larger stone, that was the same black coloration, and was well-polished.

All in all, she cut the form of the standard maid.

So why did Cadance feel like something was off?

"Forgive me," the attendant bowed. "I am one of the new staff." She shuffled slightly.

"I wasn't sure what to do, as I've just recently been hired. I was told to go and 'make myself useful,' before I ran into rather rude pony, named Blueblood… Oh." She raised her hands to her mouth, and looked at Cadance in horror, before she began to bow furiously.

"O-oh! I'm so sorry! I-I'm… Please don't fire me!" She managed to yell.

All the while, Cadance tried to calm her down, wondering if the whole dang castle might have heard her.

"It's okay, it's okay! Haa..." The pink alicorn sighed. "I'm not going to say anything. I understand that dealing with my cousin can be a bit… difficult. So no problem."

Seeing the grateful look the mare sent her, made Cadance smile. Maybe that feeling from before was simple jitters.

Ah, marriage.

"I-If you don't mind me asking." She was snapped out of her thoughts by the inquisitive stare from the maid. "So… I don't really know where I'm supposed to be. Do you mind, giving me something do?"

Cadance blinked at the weird request.

'Huh, I've never been asked to do that before.' She thought. Taking in the maid, she closed her eyes and tapped her hoof.

Maybe there was something she could ask for, but did she really need anything right now?

"I guess maybe just, clean the rooms? I'm sorry, but I'm mostly here to relax."

Thinking about it, now she was feeling that "off" notion from before.

Where were the other ponies that were supposed to be roaming the castle hallways?

"Oh, okay." She gave a nervous smile, which made Cadance feel kind of bad.

The attendant closed her eyes, sighing through her snout, before she spoke up.

"Oh, one more thing?" Cadance, wanting to at least help her, looked at her expectantly.

Only to look into a pair of emerald green eyes.

"Mind going to sleep for now?"

With that said, Cadance fell into darkness.

* * *

Looking at the alicorn at her hooves, the "attendant" smirked.

'That was far too easy. So much for all alicorns being wise.' With that thought, she picked up the body of the Princess of Love with ease, deciding her next move.

Isolating the pink one had not been hard, especially when she had a spell working the perimeter to dissuade anybody from coming this way.

'Step one, complete. Now to just deposit her-Ah!'

She nearly dropped the alicorn, as she fell to her knees. Her head pulsing, as she tried to reign in the pain.

 _ **~X~**_

" _I must secure the princess!"_

" _ **We must not!"**_

" _Your opinion is nonexistent! The Crystal Caverns is where she must be deposited!"_

" _ **We must not! She is useful!"**_

" _What use does sh-A_ _ **h**_ _!"_

" _ **She must be used."**_

 _ **~X~**_

Green, and black, eyes stared at the body in her hands, before she truly thought about the position she was in.

She had the Princess of _Love_ in clutches, and she was simply going to hide her away?

'What a foolish thought I had.' It honestly was. It bothered her that "they" were the ones to make her see this, but nonetheless, what she'd been about to do was foolhardy.

Here they were, with an alicorn of love in her hands, and she wasn't going to drain the love from her?

… Damn them.

Hefting the Princess of Love to her shoulders, she thought about how she'd play this.

There was still the groom-to-be to deal with, and while she didn't see him as a threat to her, his ability with shield spells was something she was wary of.

For better, or worse, she needed to get him under her control.

Good thing she had the perfect plan for that.

And it was right in her hands.

* * *

The Royal Guard Captain had been sawing logs as soon as Cadance had left.

Wasn't his fault these beds were just so _comfortable_.

He could get used to this.

That said, when he heard the door open, he blearily opened his eyes.

Looking up, he came face with a familiar alicorn.

"Princess Celestia?"

 _ **~TCL~**_

Most looked sky high, as a sliver of purple light shot skyward, before it expanded.

The shape spreading out as a circle, before it came to spread all over Canterlot's air space.

In less than 30 seconds, Canterlot was covered by a sphere.

 _ **~TCL~**_

She smiled to herself, as she looked up at the shield.

"Good work, Captain." Celestia said, with a small bow of her head, getting a sheepish smile from the white unicorn.

"It's really nothing your majesty, something of this level." he tightened his fist. "This should be the least that I should be able to do."

Celestia stared at him for a moment, before she smiled.

"I'm sure that your proficiency with Shield spells is the most regarded in Equestria." She sounded beyond proud with him, and Shining was sure that her praise wasn't simple complements.

He'd really gone to and beyond to extend his knowledge of Shield spells, and even dipped into some related areas. Keeping up with Naruto meant more than just speed.

The blonde was probably the physically strongest being Shining would ever have the chance to meet. On more than one occasion, he'd had the blonde break his strongest spells, once he got a little bit more serious.

He needed to be better. Not just to keep up, but to also make sure he could protect everypony under his banner.

Also to make sure Spike could look up to him as well, but that was a bonus.

"I, uh… Thanks Your Majesty." She smiled at his response.

"I only speak the truth."

"The princess is definitely correct, Captain. Especially when it comes to those Shield spells of yours." The duo of princess, and officer, heard behind them, before they turned to the entrance of a pair of unicorns,

"Bright, Lumen!" Shining turned with a smile on his face, as the twin officers walked up to him. Bowing to the princess, who smiled back, they spoke.

"Yeah, not gonna miss your wedding day. So coming early was important… Maybe too early, hehe." Bright explained, before he scratched the back of his head, with a laugh. Lumen to his side, she simply nodded her head in his direction.

"Well, I'm happy that you made it."

Watching her three Captains from the side, Celestia smiled once more, before turning towards the shield erected with a frown.

'What is going to pass in the coming days?'

 _ **~TCL~**_

She stared out of the boat side, as her cloak kept her from view.

'It's nice to just relax, and look at the waves.'

She'd left Naruto, and his group of amphibian family, close to three hours ago. Acquiring a cloak from the blonde himself, that he said he used on a recent venture.

She wanted to take the slow way back to Equestria. It wasn't often that she could really stay away from Equestria for a bit. So much had changed in over a thousand years, and even two years after her reemergence, she felt like she didn't recognize any of it anymore.

So here she was on a boat, NOT going towards Equestria proper. More towards the northeastern portion of the current maps.

There was one thing that her sister had told her, that hadn't changed, even over the past millennia.

The Cosmic Monks of the Thickets.

"We're approaching land!"

* * *

She walked the long trail, passing village after village, as she ventured farther, and farther, into the wilderness of the Thread Lands.

Bamboo thickets filled most of the forested area of these lands, and she occasionally could catch sight of the monks training on the steep cliffs.

As she progressed further, and further up the path, she noted that sounds of grunts, shouts and yelling greeted her.

All around her were temples, and monasteries, with groups and troops of monks.

She'd gone through, and passed, several such establishments. Her presence being known, and she'd promised to come back through and even train with them some, before she left.

It made her feel better, knowing that they still existed, and even thrived, in the passing years.

Making it past the last of the stone steps, she was nearing her destination, when she could hear two voices.

One familiar, another not.

"You don't tell her the truth, and that may be for the best, but she is going to continue trying to find a way to help you."

"I… I know, but it's better this way. I grow weaker as the days pass, and I just want her to be by my side when the time comes."

"Hmmm, having half of your soul doesn't give the body much to work with, Cocoona. My practices have been some of the few things keeping you as strong as you are."

"I know Calm Bead. I know."

She stopped and stared, as she saw the two speakers.

One was a familiar, and much welcomed sight. An old pony, dressed in robes of dull greys, and calm blues. Rosaries adorned his form, and a single sash was worn over his shoulder. A white, and black, speckled mane, with closed eyelids finished off his appearance, as he sat on a cushion in front of another.

The most notable thing about this being was her, because it was a female, was the familiar black outer shell.

A high ponytail, of dark, rich purple mane, ran down her back. A black, off the shoulder robe, covered her upper body, revealing the tube-top underneath, and the marking of a fish on her left shoulder.

A pair of deep purple harem pants, covered her bottoms, with the last touch being a ring on her left hand.

Luna stared, as she saw exactly what was in front of her, with her old earth pony friend.

The two noted her appearance, the changeling freezing on sight, before falling into a coughing fit.

Calm Bead sighed in a somber fashion, before tossing a smile the Princess of the Night's way.

"Welcome Luna, your return fills me with joy. My oldest student." Taking a quick glance towards the other female in the area, she turned back towards him, and bowed.

"Hello Grand Schema."

 _ **~TCL~**_

He felt the wind pass his feathers, as his transformed flight over Trottingham, brought them closer to home.

Passing over the Griffonstone Station, and Bugbear territory, had been a little difficult, but doable.

With a lick of wit, strong will and persuasive skills the like of which would have made people back in the Elemental Nations thinking he had Genjutsu skills.

Plus, being a gigantic bird, probably helped.

Night had fallen a little bit ago, so he could see the city bright and clearly, with all the lights on. As they got close, he spoke to his passengers.

 _Almost home, Ma. How's Jiraiya doing?_

The toad elder on his back blinked, still unused to the whole telepathy without chakra deal.

'It's fine Naruto-chan. Jiraiya-chan is well asleep.' She saw movement from the giant bird's head, as its two antenna like extensions bobbed.

 _Okay._

'Naruto-chan, why exactly did you fight that pony princess from before? Surely it wasn't just because you two had troubles to work out.'

The changed changeling frowned slightly, as he thought about it.

 _Yeah, it wasn't that alone. Don't get me wrong, I still would have fought her, but you're right. I've been feeling concerned about what's going on around Canterlot._

'Hmmm, have you brought this up with Celestia?'

 _Yeah, as a matter of fact,_ here the bird looked up, and Shima took notice of the direction, before looking herself.

In the distance, a large, bright purple light sphere could be seen.

'I see.' Naruto nodded.

The two ended up high in the sky, above the nightlife of Manehattan, where the blonde's bird form quickly disappeared in a flash of orange flames.

Falling, Shima held onto Gallant, right as the two of them were enveloped by a pair of shell covered arms.

"Prepare for a weird feeling." The monarch male said, as his horns glowed, before their falling speed decreased significantly.

Shima stared out over the expanse of the Manehattan night, thinking about this experience for a moment.

"Naruto-chan, if you feel that something is wrong, then I do believe that you should be prepared for anything in the coming days. Remember, if anything, me and Pa will be willing to help."

Her words caused the blonde to grin.

"Thanks Ma."

"No problem, Naruto-chan."

* * *

Opening the door to his home, Naruto smiled as he saw the form of Derpy laid asleep on the couch.

'Must have been waiting for us to come home.' With that thought, he brought a **Kage Bunshin** into existence, handing Gallant off to his clone.

The clone nodded, before taking the small child into his room, leaving Naruto to go to the couch, and bring up his wife in a bridal carry.

"Come along, my Muffin Princess. We've got a big day tomorrow." He heard her mumble something in her sleep, as she snuggled to his chest.

He shaking his head in amusement, he carried off his beloved to their room.

It was time for sleep.

 _ **~TCL~**_

The morning that followed in Ponyville, saw the group of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, Dinky, and Amethyst, standing outside of the Golden Oaks Library.

"Final checks!" Twilight announced, checklist in hand, only to have Spike tap her twice on the shoulder.

"Uh, Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"What would we need a list for? They already have everything set out for us at the castle."

"..."

"..."

"... Why must you ruin my fun, Spike?" Twilight pouted at him, as she sent the parchment, with a strangely large amount of things on it, away in a puff of smoke.

"Sorry sis, but you just need to relax." He offered.

"Checking a list is relaxing!"

Those on the sidelines watched the byplay with amusement, as the brother-sister duo began to bicker.

"Oh~! I just can't wait to be in Canterlot again! Hopefully it'll go better than the _last_ time we were there for an important event," Rarity cooed, before her mood soured. Patting her back in sympathy, Applejack chuckled.

"Ah don't think we should expect anything like last time. This is a 'royal' wedding after all. Might be a bit more controlled than Gala." Rarity huffed for a moment, before she smiled.

"True… Oooh! I'll also finally get to meet this 'Naruto' pony, and get him to give me his secrets!"

Dinky giggled at this, as Amethyst threw a sly look her sister's way.

"I'm sure you'll be getting more than you can chew once you actually meet Naruto, Rarity. That, I can assure you," Amethyst said with a twinkle in her eye, as she thought about Rarity's reaction to Naruto.

Oh, it was going to be glorious.

"Yeah. I have a pretty good feeling you're going to have your hands full." With _what_ she didn't say.

It was going to be fun watching them all meet Gallant, for the first time.

"Oh, I'm sure he's probably nice… He is, isn't he?" Fluttershy asked, with a slightly worried tone, only for Rainbow to throw an arm around her shoulders.

"Please, if he's anything like Blueblood, I'm sure I can keep him in line," the rainbow maned pegasus gloated, only to blink when she heard a pair of snorts from Dinky's, and Amethyst's, direction.

Looking at them, she saw that they looked no different from before, as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Looking forever like the innocent little angels he wasn't Dinky, grinned.

"Nah Rainbow, Naruto's a pretty nice 'pony.'" If anything, Dinky's smile seemed to enlarge. "Though, you never know, he's always up for a workout."

Rainbow's eyebrow twitched.

"What's that supposed to mea-"

"Oh yay, this wedding is going to be amazing! I wonder what kind of cake we'll eat at the after party?!" Pinkie interrupted, catching the attention of the arguing siblings.

Here, Twilight threw Spike a smug look.

"As a matter of fact Pinkie," here a familiar list reappeared in Twilight's hands. "there's going to be a dance the second the wedding is over," she finished, as her quill rose above the parchment.

"Which we're going to be given dresses, and suits, _at the castle_." Spike chimed in, getting a glare from his big sister, who huffed.

"Whatever! Let's just get on the train."

* * *

After procuring their tickets, they soon found themselves seated, chatter amongst them helping the time pass by.

Spike sat next to Dinky, as the two stared out the window. Eyes watching as they broke in and out of tunnels, spiraling up the mountain.

Dinky focused as looked towards the seaside metropolis that was Manehattan, and smiled at the thought of seeing her eldest sister again.

For his part, Spike wanted to see both his big brothers, and his godson.

The two teens grinned, as they thought about it, only to just hear Rainbow's, and Pinkie's responding, exclamations.

"A Sonic Rainboom, at a wedding? A Royal Wedding?! Can you say, 'Best wedding ever!?'"

"BEST WEDDING EVER?!" The pink party pony seemed pleased with herself, as her screams echoed into the tunnel ways, up through the mountain.

"Well while we all get to help with the wedding, _I_ get to set up the bachelor party. It's going to be SWEET." The dragon teen stated, only to get weird looks from those around the room.

"Um, Spike? You do know what a bachelor party entails, right?" Twilight asked, from her side of the train, as she and the rest of the girls, sans Dinky, sent him uneasy looks.

Spike blinked, as they all looked to him for an answer. Turning to Dinky, he sent her a curious look, to which she just shrugged.

"Well, I mean, it's just guys being guys, isn't it?" he asked, with a claw to his chin. "You know, video games, soda, lots of irresponsible sweets from Donut Joe's. Oh! And roughhousing! PLENTY of roughhousing!" he finished with a grin, as he chuckled in a malicious manner. All mares, above the age of 14, let out a sigh of relief.

' **Thank Celestia, he's still innocent!** ' They thought collectively.

Blinking at the spectacle that was her drakefriend explaining what was "Guy Time" to a bunch of adults, Dinky turned her head back towards their destination, only to find herself blinking again.

Just as she did, the group as a whole were surprised by a wall of light basically phasing through the train, and the group by extension.

"Huh? What the?" The son of Celestia muttered, as they all looked outside the windows, only to see guards.

Lots, and lots, of guards.

"What's going on?" Twilight wondered, as she and the others stepped off the train.

"Yeah, what's with all the guards?" Rainbow commented as she, and the rest of the group, exited the train. Spike and Dinky, looking about the stationed forces, before looking to one another in worry.

"Oh I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions. Royal weddings, do bring out the weirdest of ponies," Rarity offered, as Pinkie sneezed out confetti behind them.

Staring at the giggling earth pony for a moment, they simply shook their heads.

"Now let's get going, we've got lots to do." With that said, they began moving into Canterlot proper.

"And _you_ ," here Applejack pointed at Twilight. "Have a big brother to congratulate." The apple farmer said, causing the librarian to smile.

"Yeah, yeah I do. I've got two ponies to congratulate, actually. I'll meet up with you guys later. You coming Spike?" She nodded to herself, waving off the others, before looking to the lone dragon of Canterlot.

The young Solaris nodded, before turning to Dinky & Amethyst.

"You guys gonna be following along, or?" His marefriend thought for a moment, yet before she could respond, there was a disturbance in the force.

"Aaaaauuuuunnnnnnttttttiiiiiieeeeeeessssssssss!"

Her ears flickering, as they perked in a direction. The others stopped, as they too heard it as well. Amethyst's eyes went wide as she took a step to the side, Dinky doing the same, before there was a small blur that found itself lodged in Spike's stomach.

"Ugua!" Drake seemed to shoot backwards, before he crash landed backwards, front facing skyward, a spout of dust exploding upward.

The guards, seemed to flinch, as the dust cleared showing a small form bouncing on the dazed Spike.

Those watching on, only blinked as the dust cleared, showing the weirdest "colt," they honestly weren't sure, that they had ever seen. Not to be mean, of course.

The "colt" in question stopped bouncing, dressed in a red jumpsuit, looking down at the body below him.

Spike blinked, before shaking his head, and gazing at the little rocket of fur that collided with him. He came face-to-face with a familiar, grinning, trouble maker.

"Heya uncle!" The small child greeted, greeting with both arms in the air.

"... Gallant, what has your mom told you about doing that? "The dragon said, as he sat up, the little hybrid occupying his place on the dragon teen's lap.

"Hmmm…" Bless the kid's heart, he actually had to think about it. "Oh! Don't do it with pawental soupfish!" He looked so proud of "remembering."

"Gallant, I'm pretty sure that's not what she meant," Spike explained as he got up, dusting off his pants, before finding the hybrid child fluttering up to face level.

On the sidelines, those not in the know, could only watch as Spike spoke to the small "colt."

Only for the term "uncle" to catch up with a certain rainbow maned pegasus.

"HOLD IT!"

The dragon, and hybrid, jumped at the exclamation, before looking over to the twitching eyes of Rainbow Danger Dash.

"Twilight, Spike, somepony explain what the hay is going on here!" The Wonderbolt fan shouted.

Looking to each other, Spike and Twilight shrugged in unison.

"Easy, that's because Spike does hold a relation to Gallant," Twilight explained, catching the rest of the group, sans those in the know, off-guard.

"Beg yer pardon?" Applejack voiced their confusion, the others nodding.

"Easy," Dinky cut-in, going over to Spike, and picking up her small nephew, who hugged his aunt. "That's because Spike is Gallant's "godfather," as Twilight is his "godmother," with Amethyst and I being his aunts," she explained simply, booping the giggling child on the nose.

"Spikey, since when have you been anypony's godfather?" Rarity couldn't resist asking, her curiosity peaked.

Plus, it'd give her more to talk about with Aloe & Fluttershy, come her next spa session.

"If I had to think about it… About three to four years ago, give or take a couple months. How old are ya Jiraiya?" The drake said, before asking the little hybrid in Dinky's arms.

The little Hooves colt blinked once, before he looked at his fingers, and began counting them off.

"One, two, four… Four!" He said, as he held up his three fingers, much to "Hooves" sisters' amusement.

"He so adorable! Come to Auntie Pinkie!" The Element of Laughter exclaimed, as she slipped on over towards Dinky, before making faces at the, now laughing, Gallant.

Getting the okay from Dinky, Pinkie hefted the colt in her hands, twirling with him, before she brought him up close to touch noses with him, the child laughing the whole way.

She opened her eyes, staring into the changeling-pony's own, she blinked her baby blues to his yellow-blues, and stuck her tongue out the side. Gallant copying her the whole way.

The others walked on over, and took an actual look at the colt in Pinkie's hands.

"Huh, anypony else, noticing anything off about… what's his name again?" she started, before turning sheepishly towards Amethyst.

"Gallant Jiraiya Hooves is his full name. Apparently his father's own Godfather was where he got his middle name from, even though we'll call him either one. His first, or his middle one," the pink unicorn explained, as she walked over to her nephew, and tapped him once on the noggin.

"Right, so what's the deal with his, I don't know, everything?" Rainbow asked, only to reprimanded by Fluttershy, with a swat on the arm.

"Rainbow Dash, that's rude. Jiraiya seems like an adorable little colt," the animal caretaker admonished, as she threw a slightly pouty, disappointed look Rainbow's way.

Spike made a complicated face, before he sighed.

"It's honestly not _that_ big a deal, but thanks anyway Fluttershy. As for Jiraiya… Well he's not fully pony. He gets the pony from his mother's side, as well as the pegasus-ness." He explained, causing the five ponies to blink.

The two pegasi of the group, went behind Gallant, and took a good look at his wings.

Fluttershy noted the slightly scale look on the ridge of his wings, and was careful to run a finger over his feathers, and found they too had a slight scaly texture to them. Like some kind of mix between an insect's and a bird's.

Rainbow circled the small male, who was held by Pinkie, and stopped to look at him from the side.

She stared at him, and he stared back, tilting his head in her direction.

She grinned, as she flexed her wings, causing him to narrow in on her own eyes.

Gaining a face of concentration, his fluttered as well,

Stopping her own, she gave his nose a playful pinch, having him bat at her hands.

"My nowse!" The sound he made was adorable, and nearly caused those around him to faint.

He was too cute.

Letting go, Rainbow chuckled.

"You're cool in my books kid, but you're gonna have to be work pretty hard to get up to my level." She said matter-of-factly, causing him to blink.

"Cool?" Rarity rolled her eyes, as Rainbow nodded her head.

"Yup!" Gallant looked at her for a moment, before pouting and crossing his arms.

"My daddy's cooler! A bajillion times more cool!" The others laughed into their hands, as the boastful pegasus's eyebrow began to twitch.

"Oh yeah?" She said, only to find her eyebrow ticking even more, as the hybrid nodded his head.

"Yeah!"

Why did she feel like she was going to be shut down a lot today?

She opened her mouth, a retort on her lips, only to be interrupted by the sound of a pair of voices.

"I knew he'd find them, before we did. That boy can smell a dragon a mile away!"

"You're exaggerating… Maybe, hmmm."

The colt in Pinkie's hands eyes widened, before he wiggled himself out, and ran towards the station entryway.

"Mommy! Daddy!" the little colt exclaimed in joy, as he latched onto one of the figures in question.

One of them was a pegasus mare, probably about Pinkie's height. Grey fur was nuzzled into by the child in her arms, as golden yellow eyes looked at them, underneath short, pale yellow hair.

Dressed in a light blue hoodie, and dark cargos, with a pair of familiar cross-shaped earrings, Derpy Hooves waved towards the group.

"Dinky, Amethyst, Spike and Twilight!" She smiled, the light grey eyepatch over her left eye making it a one-eyed one. "Oh! Hello, nice to meet you! I'm Derpy Hooves, and I see you've met my son." The coltbug in her arms waved, before she turned to the figure next to her.

"And this is my husband, Gallant's father." She gestured towards the tall individual.

Sleek, black shelling over a muscular form, he was…. several things to the mare in front of him.

Dressed in a pair of orange, three-quarter pants, with red accents over the pockets. On his upper half, he wore a skintight black muscle shirt, with a red spiral in the center of the chest. An orange bandanna tied around his left arm, with an another familiar cross, in bangle form, over it. A marking lay over his left shoulder, in the shape of a sun, made out of weird squiggles in chalk-like fashion.

Bright, deep blue eyes scanned them all, as a bright yellow mane sat atop his head, spiking in slightly backward fashion, from the back of which was a long smooth ponytail. Two long horns, parting the mane, curved from atop his forehead, tipped in yellow and a long wire like tail with a flame-shaped tip on its end.

As tall as Celestia, looking the way he did, more than a couple of their brains fizzed out.

And he was married. Celestia damn it all.

"Yo! Naruto Uzumaki at your service!" He threw a two-fingered salute. "So I finally get to meet the fabled Elements of Harmony in the flesh. Good on ya, Twilight, sounds like ya got yourself some good friends." He said, causing Twilight to flush, before she grinned.

* * *

Looking over the group, Naruto nodded to himself.

'They're some fairly topnotch gals,' he thought, as he turned from the farm mare, to the blue pegasus, to the weird pink pony.

Said pink earth mare was currently all up in his face, looking at him with curious eyes.

He blinked, and she followed.

"Uh, hello?" he asked, to which she laughed.

"Hiya!" Okay, so she wasn't all that bad. She reminded him of himself when he was younger.

One prankster to another. Game recognizes game, as they say.

She bounced away, seemingly proud of herself, as he turned his gaze to the rest of the girls.

The shy looking pegasus felt pretty similar to nature, if he was reading her right. Turning to the last of Twilight's Ponyville friends, he found himself, once more, face to face with another mare.

"Hello, nice to meet you?" Her eyes seemed to shine for a moment, before she reigned them in, coughing into her fist.

"Ah, ahem! Yes, you see, my name is Rarity, Rarity Belle," she raised a hand in greeting, and he returned it. "You see, as a friend of Twilight's, I couldn't help but notice that interesting little trinket she has on her ears. I've seen it on a few select ponies, like your wife, Spiky and Dinky, and couldn't help but wonder… How would I get one of your products?!" Ah~ There was the return of the shiny eyes.

Better than the dark stars he remembered on Velvet a couple of years ago.

"Hehe." The monarch scratched his cheek with a small laugh. "Yeah, I did make those, but I haven't really gotten the right set-up yet for any sales. Once I do, I'll get back to you." Seeing the quivering lips, big watery eyes, and downtrodden mane, he knew he had to get out of this situation.

So turning towards those he actually knew, he quickly received and reciprocated the hugs from Twilight, Amethyst & Dinky, before fistbumping Spike.

"It's really good to see you again, master," Twilight said, causing him to smile at her.

"To this day, I still don't know what was funnier; the fact that we got it to stick with you, or Trixie's face when you actually just accepted it." The Element of Magic stuck her tongue out at him, as he ruffled her mane.

"I think that once you actually started doing practicals with us, it really sunk in," Spike chirped, as he slid into the conversation.

"Well, it was a long time coming. I mean, come on, by that point she'd already learned several life lessons from yours truly." Here, Twilight blinked.

"I did?" Naruto smirked.

"Of course you did. If anything, I consider the first lesson when we first met Trixie." Twilight hummed, as she thought on this.

"So what's up Naruto? Where were you, before Gallant got away from you guys?" Dinky questioned.

"Oh, yeah, well I was doing my rounds around the city. I met up with Derpy and Gallant, and from there we were going around the city."

At that moment, Naruto felt a weight rest itself on his shoulders, and snorted, his tail waving lazily behind him.

He looked behind him, seeing Derpy and the rest of Twilight's friends approaching, as he steady Gallant on his shoulders.

"Everything alright then?" His wife nodded to the question.

"Just getting introduced to Twilight's friends. I do think it's time to go and see Shining Armor though. Him and Cadance will love seeing you again Twilight." The mother of 'two' said, as Twilight smiled in response.

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

"Mr. Uzumaki, if you don't mind me asking. "Naruto threw a curious look Rarity's way.

"Yeah? What's up? Also, you can just call me Naruto, I'm not really a stickler for the whole last name business."

"Yes, Naruto," she restarted. "What is it that you do? You said you don't sell these, fabulous, accessories yet."

"Hm," the blonde changeling cupped his chin, as his son hung from his wire-like tail. "Well, I'm part of the royal guard, just like Shining Armor." He explained, getting looks from the group.

"You are, huh?" He thought this mare was named Rainbow, though it was kind of obvious. "So what, are you like a lieutenant, or something?" The Element of Loyalty asked, as she flew backwards, somehow, next to the blonde monarch.

"Daddy's the coolest ninja!" Came the cry of Gallant, causing raised eyebrows all around.

"Ah reckon that there's a might bit of exaggeratin'."

"Nah, he basically right," the monarch corrected, catching all their attention. "I do lots of things. Battle monsters, find artifacts, gather intel and the like…. Okay so maybe ninja IS the right term to use here." Naruto said out loud, as he actually thought about what he did for Celestia.

'Wait, have I basically been doing ninja work all this?!' It'd never dawned on him, until right just then.

Holy crap.

Rainbow looked at him in disbelief, only to have Spike backing the claim.

"He's telling the truth, ya know. Where do you guys think I got all my monster fighting skills form? Naruto was the one who basically taught me, and Dinky how to in the first place." Dinky nodded her head, as the bangles on her wrists jingled.

"Wait, so Dinky's gravity is at 3 times, too?" Fluttershy asked, a look of worry on her face, only for third of the "Hooves" sisters to laugh it off.

"Not even!" Dinky waved a hand. "I've been enjoying 2 times for _too_ long, to want anything else." She admitted, getting a giggle out of Pinkie at the pun.

"Still that can't possibly have been safe. They had to have been younger than they are now." Naruto scratched the back of his head, at Rarity's point.

"They weren't in any real danger," He said.

"So they were in a training ground, of some sort? Thank goodness."

"Nah they fighting some real deal monsters. Chupacabra, dungeonhoppers, giant ratvipers, etc., etc."

"Then they were in danger!" He shook his head at her.

"No they weren't. I was there the whole way. If anything went wrong, I could stop it."

"Mr. Naruto," he pouted. "Even if you were there, surely you can't be everywhere at once." She wanted him to see reason.

She wasn't looking for an apology, really Spike had already shown he could do some damage, but surely the blonde knew that he wasn't invincible.

She didn't see the smirk on the faces of everyone in the know.

The monarch chuckled.

"Come on Rares, just trust me on this. If Naruto couldn't help us out of a situation, then no one was going to be able to." He didn't say Celestia might, mostly for the sake of making a point.

"But, Spiky-Wikey, you could have been hurt!" He shrugged.

"Better to have it happen in a controlled environment, than somewhere out there. Rarity, come on, me n Dinks?" He ignored the 'Dinky and I' he heard from Twilight behind him. "We've got nothing to worry about when Naruto's around." He grinned, Dinky peeking over his shoulder at the fashionista.

She pouted at him, before she let out a "hmph". Giving Naruto a look, as he grinned her way.

"Oh that's right!" The blonde slammed a fist into his hand. "Spike I've got another one, for your collection." Here the drake's eyes shined, as he rushed to the blonde's side.

"Bring it out! Gimmegimmegimmegimme!" The blonde chuckled, as the Twilight's friends stared at the reaction.

"Wow, I haven't seen Spike that eager since I had him try my brand new Three Gem Sparkle Cheesecake." Pinkie said.

Naruto grinned, before he reached into, and pulled out, a scroll from his pocket. Unfurling it on the floor, revealed a large seal in the center, before he used his thumb to prick his finger, and ran it over the mark.

The next moment, a puff of smoke appeared, before it dissipated to show an object that hadn't been there before.

It was a rather large blade, for the most part. A tan colored blade, with white rounding on all its edges. It was a foot wide, before coming to a point near its end. The only special thing about it, was that lining the middle of the flat side were three bells, gold in color, and that its guard was circular with the depiction of a larger bell on it.

Spike's hands shot forward, as Naruto allowed him to take it, before he rolled the scroll closed.

Taking a few steps away from the others, he stared at it, before his eyes glowed a flicker of silver, before going back to their emerald colorations.

The blade was probably four feet long, blade + handle, and reached his chin, and the dragon felt that giddy joy well within him.

Lifting the new sword with one hand, he swung it in a flurry of slashes, twirling it once, before holding it straight in front of him, with a look of approval.

"Ruke. That's your name, and I've got a good home for you." The teen male muttered.

Those watching, simply saw as he tapped the space in front of him, before there was a small dot of green. The green dot spiraled outward, before it was two feet in diameter, and Spike shifted the sword in his grip before pushing it through the "passage".

The green circle disappeared in the next moment, but not before one couldn't see inside it.

A collection of eleven swords, all ranging in appearance, floated in a weird space, where the new blade joined them.

All said and done, Spike was really, REALLY happy to have seen Naruto again.

"The hay was that?!" The rainbow maned mare sputtered, as the others nodded along with them.

Dinky giggled, but informed them nonetheless.

"Hehehe, 'that' was Spike's Armory. With a capital "a" by the way." Pinkie nodded, in understanding. "That's where he keeps all the swords he's ever received from big brother."

"The swords Spike makes, the spell he sues to do so, isn't complete. So in its stead, Naruto's been picking up other ones for him.

"Yup!" Spike re-entered the conversation. "50% failing rate, isn't going to do me too good, if I get into a decent fight. So Naruto started collecting these for me, when he could. I'm going to be beyond prepared for when I'm in the Royal Guard."

* * *

They had reached the castle courtyard a few moments later, idle chatter going on between them.

"So you never have to do anything for your hair?! _Nothing_ _?!_ " Naruto chuckled.

"Nope, not a thing." He flicked his hair to make a point. "I've just always had it like this, ever since several years ago."

"That's not fair! You're lying to me!" Rarity's eyes seemed to double in size, and gained a watery quality.

The quivering lip was pretty impressive, he wouldn't lie, but he had a son who could act five times worse.

This was nothing, now that he understood the kind of pony she was.

'Melodramatic.'

"Yo Naruto!" Hearing his name called, he looked to up, as they entered past the entryway.

Waving at him, from an area with several other stationed guards, was a familiar male twin.

"Bright?" He asked with a smile, as the unicorn jumped off the ledge, to meet him.

Coming up to him, the two locked arms.

"You know it! Wow, it feels like it's been forever! What's been going on?"

"Nothing much, just the usual. Missions, the apartment and the family. What about you? Lumen scare away all your dates yet?" The blond responded, before he teased the rosette, causing the Captain to shrug.

"I've been on a couple successful ones." Naruto threw him a look, and Bright chuckled, before he leaned forward to speak in whispers.

"Turns out, she can really get behind me bringing home smart girls. I met this one unicorn in the library-"

"I hope you're speaking well about whatever it is, _brother_." Bright Glow froze, before he quickly spun around, and chuckled nervously.

"Oh yeah, totally!" She shook her head, a slight smile on her lips, before she turned to Naruto. Extending a hand, she spoke.

"It's been a long time Uzumaki." He nodded, accepting the gesture.

"Likewise, _Captain_." She smirked back at him, before looking over his shoulder.

"I'm to assume, these are the Elements of Harmony?" She said, as she stepped around the blonde changeling, and inspected the group. Her eyes moved, softening as they moved over Dinky, who waved, before they went back to their impassive gaze.

Finished her checking, she nodded her head.

Rainbow Dash smirked, as she asserted herself to the front of the group.

"Yeah, that's right. We're the real deal." Lumen cocked an eyebrow.

"The same "Real deals" who I heard, caused trouble at the Grand Galloping Gala some time ago." They all winced a that. "Besides, while we do appreciate your contributions to the protection of Equestria, please reign in your ego." Her piece said, she moved over to Derpy, and smiled at the coltbug in her arms.

"Hello Mrs. Hooves. Gallant, how are you today?"

"Gweat!" Lumen smiled slightly wider.

Rainbow Dash felt incensed, but held herself back. Grumbling she turned around, only to find Everypony else doing something.

Twilight was moving forward, as she talked to a taller white furred, blue two-toned unicorn, in a red jacket top with gold lining, and white pants. The two were currently walking over to a corner of the courtyard, so she let them be.

Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie seemed to be discussing something with Bright, as Lumen interacted with the "Hooves" family. Spike was nearby, speaking with one of the guards, before he was lead into the castle.

She sighed, before she saw Fluttershy walking towards Naruto, and decided that she might as well follow her example.

As she walked over, she caught the beginning of the butter-colored pony's question.

"...If you don't mind me asking."

"Nah, it's fine. If ya really want to know, I'm what they call a changeling."

"What's going on over here, guys?" She asked, inserting herself, to the side of her childhood friend.

"Nothing really, just your friend asking me some questions. Like I was telling her, I'm a changeling. Think of it like a shapeshifter." He explained, before Rainbow found herself in front of...herself.

Down to the particular fringe she had on her bangs, he was a perfect copy, sans his clothes being different.

"Okay, whoa!" The next moment she was in front of Fluttershy, who smiled in an un-Fluttershy-like manner. None of her friend's shyness was in a smile such as this.

Looking to her side, she saw the real Fluttershy staring back at herself with awed look. Reaching out, she touched 'her' mane, face, and stared at her wings.

"Oh my," both of them rang out, before the real one looked at her in disbelief.

The fake grinned, before it was Naruto back to normal.

"Okay, that's pretty cool." Rainbow looked like she'd been told, and made, to suck a lemon. "B-but anyway, what's with the guards, and stuff? Or is this really for the chances that some weird ponies might show up?" At this question, Naruto grimaced, looking up as he saw that the rest of the group was now approaching, the twins casting their gazes his way, before giving him the go ahead.

"There's been some worrying movements as of late. For those not in the know, I'm a changeling. To summarize what we do," here he transformed into each of those of the Elements of Harmony. "Now I don't belong to a hive of changeling, but there are several of them strung throughout the lands, and I've been getting some disturbing amount of intel that they've been moving."

"So these guards aren't just for some rowdy wedding crashers?" He shook his head at Rarity's question, as Lumen chose to speak up.

"Naruto has the ability to sense these changelings, and their leaders, but he says that all of a sudden, they just dropped off the map." This got a curious look sent the officers ways.

"Don't get it. Ah'd reckon that there'd be a good sign." Applejack supplied., only to Naruto shaking his head at her. Strangely enough, Dinky gave a statement.

"I think I get it," she thought out loud, a hand to her chin. "Like, it'd make you antsy. You knew they were doing something, and all of a sudden it's silent?"

"That does, sound fishy," Rainbow mumbled.

"Right, and it's not just that. If something happened recently as of late, I'd know. I've been actually trying to keep an eye on where I've been feeling these things. While that is hard to do, what with them also being able to feel me, I haven't gotten anything that might say there was a reason." Naruto explained.

"That's why we're having most of the Guard around for the wedding. Once it's over, and hopefully nothing happens, we're going to be doing some widespread searches." Bright said, causing them all to nod.

"I really hope this doesn't put a sour note on the wedding." Derpy spoke, as Gallant looked around at all the gathered adults.

"Thinking about that, where's Cadance?" Naruto couldn't help, but wonder.

* * *

Those watching in the park, would have seen a serene scene.

Joggers going about their daily runs, couples walking along the paths and a certain pink pony princess, walking about.

Ponies did wave, and she reciprocated, but it was a distracted kind. As if she were doing it automatically.

Walking a good distance away from any sort of track in the park, and towards a rather innocent pond.

Sitting down, she looked into it, and watched the fish.

Had anyone paid any true attention to the pond, they'd have notice the weird thing about the fish.

Being that they were all black,

Dipping a fist into the water, she watched as the fish gathered, encircling the limb, before they spread out around the pond perimeter, in four groups.

Each group wandered to some corner of the pond, before they scuttled into the muddy flooring, leaving behind a murky insignia, before another scuttle had the mark hidden under mud.

Her work done, she removed herself from the area, and even out of the park.

Meeting with the guards waiting at the park entrance, she was covered on both sides, before they continued their trek back to the castle.

"Was your walk pleasant, Princess Cadenza?" One asked, and she smiled, adjusting the necklace around her neck.

"Oh, _absolutely_."

* * *

When they were all situated, after their long ride and walk to the castle, Twilight and co. relaxed a little in their shared rooms.

Spike had been enjoying taking the time to speak with Celestia, giving his mom the rundown on what he'd been up to, since moving to Ponyville.

Once he was done, and they spent some good ol' family time together, he'd left her to her work.

"I can't wait for tonight to begin." He thought aloud, grinning from earfin to earfin.

Just them guys, chillin', and doing guy things, it was to be a grand ol' time.

"Now let's see who's where." Stopping for a moment, he closed his eyes.

He allowed his mind to calm, before raising a magically glowing claw to his temple, before holding his hand outward.

He focused first on Twilight's signature, where by extension he could feel the Elements as well. They were in the room Celestia had given them, for the night. He could even feel Lumen, and the Hooves sisters + Gallant, in there.

Nodding his head, he focused now on Shining Armor, Naruto and Bright. All in one location, and he could already feel the rising male tensions. Last he checked, he remembered that there was a game of Monopoly in that room.

… He wanted to see the _carnage_.

His grin nearly splitting his face, he almost just rushed towards them, before he thought of one last thing.

"Hmmm, now where's Cadance? Huh?" He focused, one last time, and blinked.

'Wait,' he didn't understand.

Why was Cadan-

"Spike?" He froze, body locking up, as he slowly turned to see said pink alicorn, right behind him. She stood there in the light being casted by one of the castle windows. The rays of moonshine pelting down on her body, throwing around shadows, that seem to accentuate her eyes, and hide some of her body.

Her black stone necklace glinted in the shine, and he couldn't help but focus on it.

Eyes wide, he blinked as he looked at her, as she looked back at him in a curious fashion.

"Spike? I thought you were supposed to be with Shining, and the others. Why are you out here, young drake?" He couldn't help his automatic reaction, to quickly shuffle in place.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry, had to see mom really quick, before heading to meet the guys." His mind going a mile a minute, as he detected Cadance in front of him _now_.

What was going on?

"Oh, well, I hope you enjoyed your time together. I'm going to turn in for the night," she yawned. "We all have a big day tomorrow."

He did scratch his head, and chuckled.

"Yeah… I'm going to go to the guys now. Hopefully, I'll get to watch Naruto win Applewood again, ya know?" He said, chuckling, before he quickly began to walk away.

"Of course, we know how Naruto is. Good night, Spike." Her piece said, he could feel her still standing there, as he walked away. As he got a good distance, he felt her turn away towards her own room.

His eyes narrowed, as he heard the sounds of the guys shouted over one another, before he sighed.

He'd think on it later.

"May Celestia DAMN YOU! There's no fucking way you can have that many hotels?!"

"Ha ha ha! Suck it money colt! Now, PAY ME!"

"I'm still in JAIL?!"

Yeah, later.

* * *

Twilight turned in her bed, sleep eluding her, as she thought back on the events earlier with Cadance.

'She didn't even try our handshake.' She thought, as she turned once more.

Yes, it was a little bit of a childish thing to hold onto, but she enjoyed as the thing that only she and Cadance would do.

'Maybe the others were right, and it's pre-marital jitters...' She tried to close her eyes again.

'Maybe, I am just overreacting.'

 _ **~TCL~**_

She looked back at her subjects, the yellow eyes staring back at her waiting for a command.

Nodding back them, she looked forward at the floating emblem in the center of the hive.

She sighed, before adjusting her gloves, her top fully on.

It was almost time.

 _ **~TCL~**_

She shivered slightly, as she stared at her reflection.

Shaking her head, as she banished the haunting black and green eyes, that stared back at her.

Swiping her arm across it, as she left her quarters, she ignored the sound of crashing, and breaking glass, behind her and ventured to the center of her hive.

As she walked, she could hear the calming sounds of her subjects buzzing growing louder, and louder, before she entered the large cave auditorium.

The buzzing seemed to reach a crescendo, before it fell silent, once she reached the center of the room. The redhead Queen trailed her eyes over the swarming amount of her changelings. Of her family.

She straightened out her nun's dress, and ran a finger form the base of her horn, to the crown of the headdress.

"It's almost time, my hive."

She could see them all in her mind's eye. Some were eager, others neutral, some were nervous and more than a few were concerned.

She focused on those in the last two sectors, conveying as much confidence as she could.

Quelling those fears, as best she could, before she turned to the floating crest on the far wall.

'Soon.'

 _ **~TCL~**_

"Oooh! I can't wait!"

"This dress! I'm going to be looking magnifique!"

"Would ya'll hurry it up! This thing ain't easy to zip up the back fer!"

Watching all her Ponyville friends getting on their dresses, was a treat in and of itself, taking her mind away from the uneasy feeling she'd been getting.

Turning around in her own dress, she looked herself over in the mirror, where she caught the reflection of the other side of the room where the Hooves family, plus Lumen & Jiraiya, were doing the same.

* * *

"Trixie! We're going to be late!"

"Trixie requests five more minutes…. ZZZZZ."

"ARGH! I can feel him from here!"

All she got were snores, before she transformed into an elephant and trumpeted her awake.

* * *

"Now just a bit more… and done! My boy is looking so handsome!" The changeling-pony hybrid kept pulling at his white shirt, as he sat on the bed in the black pants.

"Mommyyyy~" He whined, but Derpy simply gave him a kiss to the noggin, as she set about her dress.

She spied Lumen grunting, as she helped Dinky with her hair, the teenager making all sorts of suggestions that were probably inappropriate for a wedding/formal situation.

Seeing Amethyst walking over to help, she smiled before retrieving her eyepatch from a nearby dresser.

Right as she fixed it to her face, they had their call for the wedding beginning.

* * *

She stared at her citywide diagram of Canterlot and smiled.

Her horned glowed for a moment, before red spots awoke all over the miniature.

She was sad she couldn't be at the wedding, much less meeting up with Twilight and Trixie, but she needed to get this done and over with.

She was going to have an apprentice soon, so she had to get things ready for her.

"There! All dimensional warps have been set, and accoun- huh?"

She stared, as she noted a large black mark that appeared in a nearby park, and scrutinized it for a moment.

"Is it a bug?" She wondered aloud, before she noticed that there was another, and another.

Several other black spots as well, five in total, and she had no idea where they'd come from.

Looking at them all, she couldn't help but pale, as a feeling of dread filled her.

"No…" With that, Moondancer left her laboratory, as the black marks began to grow in brightness.

* * *

He stared down the hall, as he felt Cadance down there again.

He didn't know what was up, but all he knew was that something was wrong.

He could hear the wedding beginning, and began to run down the hall. Towards that other signal, mind in a tizzy, as he tried to figure out, why the signal felt so weak.

He ended up in the castle garden, and swore as the signal flickered, and dimmed sporadically.

Waving past the guards, he looked around. Walking forward, to the center of the garden area, he felt the signal intensify, before he was standing right on top of it.

Him in his black suit stood out in the garden of greens, yellows and pinks. He walked over, and over that signal and only found himself walking past it.

'What the hay is going on here?' He stopped for a moment, as he stared down at the ground. Turning around he ran back towards the garden entrance, and spoke to a guard.

"You!" The dragon pointed to the confused guard. "Who was the last pony to come through here?"

The unicorn guardspony blinked, before thinking for a moment.

"Princess Cadance was the last one to come here. She said she wanted to relax, and felt that this was the best place." The pegasus mare said, causing Spike eyes to narrow, before he ran back over to that spot, the guard following.

"What are you looking for?" She asked, as the young male stomped around for a second, before his hands glowed. He closed his eyes, and pulled on his spell again, before setting the magically burning palm on the floor.

His spell wasn't the end all, be all, to sensing. It was best at singular signal tracing, and worked spectacularly when he was intimate with the signature in question.

That said, it could still be used to find the amount of signatures over a limited area, and he could usually distinguish between who was in it, as long as he was familiar with each signature.

Spreading the spell downward, he kept reaching, before he found what he was looking for.

More than what he was looking for even.

His eyes burned, as he held a hand out, a portal to his Armory opening before he pulled out, a tool.

Retrieving his weapon, the stabbing it into the floor, feeling the magic come into place.

The next moment, he produced an unstable construct with his magic, the large blade barely holding itself together.

He swung down towards the ground, and it burst on impact.

* * *

Naruto felt slight apprehension, as he stood by Shining's side, the Best Stallion as it was.

Standing by the altar, was his clone, changed into Spike with a **Henge** over the clothes.

The drake had told him that he needed to do something quick, and the blonde would switch him in, when he showed up.

Thinking on this, he was interrupted by the sound of the music picking up, as the appearance of the bride of the hour, Cadance.

Watching her walk down the carpet was a pretty special thing. Her long wedding dress., and white veil. The only thing offsetting it was a black necklace she wore, as she slowly made her way down the aisle.

Now that he thought about it…. Where had Cadance gotten that necklace from?

As she approached, he did one quick whisper to Shining.

"Psst! Shining? Where did Cadance get the necklace?" Shining had been slightly out of it, but answered.

"That? Oh she's had that forever~" He drawled on the forever, but the monarch's eyes narrowed.

"Define 'forever'."

"For a while now, she's just never showed it."

He knew something was wrong.

When she reached the altar, Celestia looked on with pride, and joy, as she watched her adopted niece, hold hands with her husband-to-be.

As she continued the process of the matrimony, she couldn't help but notice that Naruto was frowning as he looked at Cadance.

That was the first alarm bell, but she continued talking as she didn't want to interrupt the wedding itself.

"If there is anypony who feels that these should not be wed, may they speak now or forever hold thei-!"

The next moment, the doors to the room were slammed open as a body was thrown through it.

* * *

She couldn't believe that this was going so smoothly, and realize that catching all these ponies off-guard, at the reception, was going to be horribly easy.

She'd be doing nothing, but calculating, since she'd taken over the pony princess. Her planting of the portals, having them all back-off to be teleported, instead of simply waiting outside of the city.

All mostly because, she'd learned that a changeling was in Canterlot, a Monarch no less.

When she'd first seen _him_ , she was more than a little shocked. It was more precise to say she was shocked, livid, fearful and envious, all at once.

To be able to walk among the ponies, while easily getting their love, or whatever fucking Emotion he preferred?

While her subjects were starved, trying to get by?

More than anything, at that moment, she hated this monarch with all the molten intensity of a Dragon's inner flame.

How pretentious of that _**bastard**_ , to simply have the ponies give him Love.

How fucking _**ignorant he was**_ , of her plight. Oh how he _**flaunted himself all over Canterlot.**_

She'd destroy him. Regardless of the irrational hate, she couldn't allow him to live. Or hold him under her spell, and use him for the sake of breeding a true army.

Yes, _**yes**_. That was a better idea. She'd rule him, and he'd in turn give her more power. He had no hive of his own, no subjects.

Just himself and these stupid, helpless _ponies_. How dare he forsake his race, the _**All-Mother**_?

He need to be disciplined, once this was all over.

Calming her mind, as the pain in her head receded, she focused once more on the task at hand.

Walking forward, she couldn't help but notice something worrisome.

While the necklace she wore, excavated and molded, with spells f her making, blocked others from sensing her. Her own senses were muffled, as well.

She could still sense the male Monarch from this distance, but she could still sense him, _again_ , next to the groom.

Where the short dragon was, who'd put her off since yesterday.

She didn't like that basically the dragon wasn't here, nor the fact that this monarch could seemingly duplicate himself. Neither of those was good factors for her plans.

So when she'd made it to the altar, holding Shining Armor's hands, and noticed the monarch glaring, she felt annoyance well up within her.

Yet, she knew he wouldn't do anything, at least not until it was too late. So she played her part, and made backup plans to deal with the present foe.

Both "bride", and groom, looked towards the ruler of the land. Both seemingly in anticipation, with one having darker motives.

Celestia smiled.

"If there is anypony who feels that these should not be wed, may they speak now or forever hold thei-!"

The large twin doors leading into the ceremony struck the walls with tremendous force, as a body flew through.

* * *

He ran, anger powering his steps, as the guardspony from before fought to keep up, the beat up changeling strung over her shoulder. Cadance leaned on him, as he helped her move.

Each guard they passed, looked on in shock, before rallying the others, creating a force behind the livid, male dragon.

When they got to the wedding doors, he saw a pair of ponies.

One familiar, and confused, looking Trixie, with a small unicorn mare by her side.

The azure mare looked to be about to question him, but one locked gaze later, she moved away from the door.

Handing Cadance off to the guards, he took the unconscious changeling by the lapels of his mismatched attire, and tossed him with all the force he could muster into the room.

Watching as the doors slam open, as the changeling's body flew, before it landed at the steps of the altar.

One look into the room, his eyes landed on "Cadance", and they burned a visceral, emerald green.

"That _bitch_ ain't Cadance." He growled, as fire lifted from his mouth.

* * *

Several things happened in that moment.

Two cracks of pavement, as a blonde changeling launched himself towards the "bride", with a dragon teen not far behind.

A crack of stone, as the necklace fell from "Cadance"'s neck.

Three swirling auras coming to life around horns.

The world got _LOUD_ , for all those involved.

 _ **~TCL~**_

Two separate armies watched the insignia shine, before they charged.

Disappearing into the crests.

 _ **~TCL~**_

They stared, as the light subsided.

'Cadance' grinned, her eyes green and black, in coloration, as Shining Armor stood in front of her, a shield surrounding them on all sides.

Naruto and Spike looked at where their fists made contact, as Celestia saw the little effect her own attack had.

She raised her hand, horn glowing.

" _ **Repel"**_

Each of the attackers found themselves flung bodily away from the shield, surrounding the changeling Queen.

Spike found himself flying back out of the hall doors, only to be caught by Trixie's magic.

Celestia felt her back impact, another pony, as Bright Glow protected her from harm.

Naruto found himself flying, before he righted himself, in mid-air, to land on a pillar; cracking the stone beneath his hole-filled hooves.

Blue eyes glared at the altar, as "Cadance" grinned at them. Her form shimmering like a mirage, before her true form was revealed, in a flash of green flame.

"Welcome Canterlot," her voice echoed in the chambers. Dual quality tone reverberating farther than any voice could, as the skies outside grew dark.

And _NOISY_.

"To your imminent _demise_!"

And so, chaos fell upon Canterlot.

The invasion had begun.

 _ **~Part 3 End~**_

 **Sweet, holy mother of all setup, that took FOREVER!**

 **Jesus, I didn't think I could cram that much into what basically accounts for three days 'time in fic, but damn if I didn't do it.**

 **I honestly can't say that I didn't enjoy this for the most part, it was fun tying everything together, but Great Kessler Building Batman, this shit took a LONG time to get finished.**

 **As Shikamaru/Shichika Yasuri would say, "What a hassle."**

 **Whew! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to plan how I'm going to use my next 10 days.**

 **Winter Vacation! Baby!**

 _ **~NRK Out~**_


	9. Changelings (Divide and Conquer)

_**I want everybody to be clear about something-**_

 _ **Map of Canterlot**_

 _ **This is the architecture that I'm using for Canterlot. The one from the movie.**_

 _ **~Part 4~**_

No one saw it coming.

With guards stationed at every corner, by park entrances and surrounding important structures, no one saw the chance of anything going wrong like this.

When the top of the shield went dark, no one was prepared for the onslaught of changelings to fall on the city of Canterlot.

Reds, greens, yellows and blues, all sorts of eye colors filled the dark wave that surged from different points inside the royal city.

Guards were caught flat-footed, as armies ranging in the thousands rained down upon them.

Screams filled the air as changelings scattered across the royal city.

 _ **~TCL~**_

"We've known of the presence of your colonies for a while now." She sat cross-legged, next to the purple membrane-maned Monarch. "You have our honest condolences, as we can understand what it can be like to lose everything."

"Thank you…" Cocoona whispered, before her body shook an instance later, hands fisting the ground.

Luna could only watch as Calm Bead, who sat in front of the former Purple Hive Leader, set a hand on her shoulder.

There was a slight gasp of breath before Cocoona's trembles slowed to a halt. The Monarch's form sitting a slight bit taller, as she leaned towards the touch.

Calm didn't really move much, but after a moment he smiled. Removing his hand seemed to bring Cocoona back to the present, as she flushed before bowing.

"Thank you, once again. You have no idea just how much this helps me." Bead simply shook his head in the negative.

"It's no worry, Cocoona. By this point, I'd thought we were passed these pleasantries." The monk smiled, as the Purple Hive leader flushed further. A frown graced his lips moments later, as he stared at her.

Luna looked on in confusion.

"Your visits have been becoming more frequent as of late, though. More often than not, some of the others must assist you up the steps." He stated, each word causing the Queen to dip her head lower.

"We are confused. Bead, what's going on?" Luna really was. She'd thought the only amicable changelings had been Naruto and his son.

Clearly, that was wrong.

Calm Bead sat back, humming to himself.

"Hmm… a few centuries ago, I was approached by Cocoona. She came to me and wanted to negotiate a deal." He began, as Cocona shifted slightly in her seat.

" _I traveled a great distance to meet you, Grand Schema."_

"She wished to feed upon our wisdom."

Luna's head snapped in the Queen's direction but Cocoona was unphased.

"Now, as you can imagine, I was more than a little skeptical. I did not know what a changeling was, nor of what "feeding" entailed back then." He chuckled slightly, as Cocoona smiled.

"I asked her why my sect, and she replied,"

"Because you were the wisest." Cocoona supplied. Luna nodded her head, understanding a slight bit.

"As you can understand now, I didn't at the time. She explained to me what she was and what they did. How she was a Queen and needed to provide for her race."

"Ever still, I'd asked her: 'What if I should refuse?'"

" _We will take what we need and flee. You will be left weakened yet alive, but we will not leave unfed."_

The alicorn stood to her hooves, as she glared at the changeling beside her, hands clenched, as she opened her mouth.

"Wait, Luna," came Calm Bead's voice. She turned her head towards to the raised hand and met his eyes.

Seeing his expression, she reigned in her anger but spoke still.

"Thou would still-" She began to sneer, only for Cocoona to meet her eyes unflinchingly.

"If I must, I will. Changelings aren't like you ponies. I will do what I must for my hive." Her tone brokered no argument, which only seemed to irritate Luna more.

"He said 'no'!" The Queen shrugged.

"Actually, there's more to this story." The princess snorted at Calm's words, causing Cocoona's eyebrow to twitch.

Calm Bead allowed himself a small smile at their antics.

"After receiving her answer, I was surprisingly more curious than panicked. Yes, she'd basically said she'd take what she wanted. Yet, I had to question why she'd come and ask me first. From what she implied, she could have taken her fill." He began again, Cocoona's expression softening.

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"So what did thee do?" The Princess of the Night asked, causing him to grin.

"I asked her to play a game with me." Here he removed a single tile like object from his sleeve.

Luna tilted her head.

"... Are we correct to assume that that is a 'Scrabble' piece?" The princess asked, uncertain of the reveal.

Calm chuckled a bit as he placed the piece down on a stone tablet, reaching around his side to retrieve the aforementioned "Scrabble" game.

"Yes. We play quite often nowadays. Back then, it was more that it was the only thing I had on hand." He laughed slightly, as Cocoona herself chuckled.

Luna was simply dumbfounded.

"So we played, and let me tell you she's a heck of a player. We played three times, and I said that if she won two out of three, she could feed. No questions asked." Luna slowly rose an eyebrow.

"So thee lost?" He shrugged, but Cocoona spoke up.

"Actually," the Changeling Queen started, "he forfeited. At the time, we were in the middle of the last game," Cocoona explained, as she looked back on those days as Luna threw an incredulous look Calm Bead's way.

So much happier, those days were.

"Why? We figured thee would have had a chance of winning." Luna turned a glare Cocoona's way. "Even if the company wasn't very _kind_."

The Queen rolled her eyes.

"Because I saw no point to it. One could say, I grew a sort of understanding of her as we played." He said simply, eyes closing.

"He asked questions during the game." Cocoona supplied, as she picked up the small piece. The large "C" on it, staring back at her.

"So thou simply spoke?" Calm shook his head at Luna's question.

"Nope. As a matter of fact," he scratched his chin, "there were no words exchanged the whole duration of the game."

"At least not ones that weren't on a board." Cocoona chirped.

Luna hummed to herself as she surveyed the two. The familiarity of both parties had pretty much confirmed how close they actually were.

"Hmm, you two remind us greatly of our sister and Naruto. Were Calm an alicorn, We would even call this the reversal of the situation." Luna's observation caught the two's attention.

"Celestia and who?"Calm asked, tilting his head to the side. Cocoona was far more curious about what Luna had meant.

'A reversal?'

The princess nodded. "Naruto. That's the name of the changeling who appeared in Canterlot, from what We've heard, ten years ago."

The sole changeling's eyes narrowed before they widened in horror.

Seeing Cocoona's expression, Calm Bead felt his worry rise.

"Cocoona, what's wrong?"

"No, no, no! Princess Luna!" The Princess of the Night blinked at the desperation in the Queen's tone.

"Yes?"

"This changeling! What are they currently doing right now?" Luna raised an eyebrow.

"More than likely attending a wedding." Cocoona's lips tipped downward.

"This isn't the time for jokes!"

"WE don't joke!"

"Alright, alright, calm down! Cocoona! Luna!" Calm spoke up, his narrowed eyes catching both princess and monarch in his vicinity. He lay his hand on the floor, a shift of magic moving outward from it, dispelling the rising vapor behind Cocoona and the ice at Luna's hooves.

As one, both froze before sitting down. Their bodies having risen with their tempers, now settled back into their seats.

Allowing his gaze to soften, he brought his hand back and turned towards Luna first.

"Luna, please don't get into a fight. For one," he held up a finger. "I can't afford to have this place fixed and two, Cocoona's just worried for her daughter." Calm finished, raising a second digit.

Luna stared at monk for a moment, before sighing and crossing her arms. Looking in another direction, she spoke.

"We told no lie, he is at a wedding in Canterlot. Both he and his family." Cocoona stared at her for a moment.

"He?"

"Yes, _he_." Lest she get sidetracked she shook her head and stored that information away for later.

"His entire hive? Invited to this wedding?" Luna shot her the weirdest look.

"He has no hive. None that he's shown us but he DOES have a family. He married a pegasus and already harbours a child, four years of age." Her words caught Cocoona by surprise.

"Truly…"

 _ **~TCL~**_

Hearing the screams outside, all in the hall either flinched or glared.

Naruto and Spike did the latter at Chrysalis. The Queen merely smiled, as she dropped a hand to Shining's shoulder.

The white unicorn captain stared back at Naruto, as he allowed his hand to reach for his hip. The air distorting, as he pulled a dual-sided sword from a wavy distortion at his side. The longsword's handle was simple in design, with a brown leather grip, a gold and purple embroidered guard, and a flat gold pommel. The three-foot blade of shining steel shimmering in the sunlight, flickering markings along its edge.

Shining's form seemed to distort itself, a flicker of blue light overtaking him before it was dispelled with a swing of his blade.

His former tuxedo had been changed for far more combative armaments; a full suit of medium-sized armor adorned the unicorn Captain now. Silver with blue accents colored the whole of it. A bright red cape wrapping close around the shoulders and pinning at the front of the chest plate, by a belt strap which contained a trio of throwing knives.

Light blue eyes, with an off greenish tint, glared at the opposing changeling monarch and dragon duo from within the opening of his helmet. Brandishing his weapon of choice at the older of the two, Shining widened his legs slightly and waited. His right hand free, as his horn shimmered in a barely visible aura.

"Shining, what the-?! What did you do to my brother?!" Came the cry of the Element of Magic, as she stared in shock before glaring at the smirking Chrysalis.

Celestia eased herself from Bright, thanking him with a nod before turning her gaze toward the lone enemy Monarch in the room. Her eyes switching towards the betwixt Captain before setting back on the invader.

Chrysalis eyes glinted in the streaks of sunlight from outside, shadows draping her form. She chuckled, her voice brokered in stereo, before laying a hand on Shining's shoulder.

"Good, my subject. Make sure they can't stop our glorious day of reckoning," she ordered. The unicorn nodded, a vacant gesture, as he kept eyes on the two hostiles in front of him. The shield around them fell before another arose from sides of the hall, entrapping all those within.

"My Queen, be careful." His eyes trailed quickly across the room before flickering back to the blonde. "There are several in the hall who could great obstacles to the invasion," Shining finished, shifting his sword ever so slightly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

Chrysalis hummed before her eyes trained in on the young dragon in their midst.

She smirked.

Spike was a pretty laid back dragon.

He lived a life most would never, if he was to be honest.

A dragon who had an awesome marefriend and a future monster hunter.

A godfather, son of a Princess, brother to said princess's student, and the up-and-coming groom.

One thing Spike valued most, above ALL else, was his family. All the connections he'd made in life, he valued highly. Both from his BBBB's lessons and his mom's.

So, he felt more than justified for reacting the way he had. Shining had been looking forward to this day for a long time. He'd personally confessed this to both Spike and Naruto.

He'd been so excited. Him and Cadance. Both were anticipating this wedding day and wanted things to go perfectly.

And now, said day laid in ruins.

A day of happiness and joy is now hidden in fear and terror.

And the source of it all stood right in front of him. Smirking at him while showing her fangs, disgusting smugness emanating from her twisted expression.

So he could be forgiven for being a bit _aggravated_.

The teen dragon's pupils thinned into barely perceptible slits, emerald irises burning with a bright flame, as green flames burst to life in his throat.

"!"

The roar shook the marriage venue, surprising both the venue goers and those more familiar with the drake, right as the dragonic teen lunged towards Chrysalis.

"Shit! Spike wait!" Naruto called out, handheld towards the drake before the appendage snapped back from a glowing dagger.

Shining's eyes kept the blonde King in his sights, sword glowing on and off. Immediately, a dome captured the blonde who threw his mind-trapped friend a sour look.

Chrysalis watched the young dragon devour the distance between them in single breath. His eyes enraged, as he swung a claw enwrapped in flames.

His downward swing was met by an invisible force. The flame following behind the attack splitting passed the Queen's side, leaving her untouched amidst burned tiles.

His eyes went wide at Chrysalis's own widening smirk and shining horn.

"Repel"/ _ **Ye olden deity, move thy realm to my wish.**_

Spike found himself blasting backward as if struck by a speeding minotaur. His eyes, previously clinched shut from being hit, snapped open as stopped his backward trip by slamming all four of his limbs into the marble flooring. His claws easily penetrating the floor, before he ground to a stop near a formerly standing pillar.

The dragon paid seemingly little care for whoever was near him, as his mouth let out a growl. His eyebrows narrowed before he swung his head back, chest expanding, and released a torrent of orange flame towards Chrysalis.

From where she stood, Chrysalis watched as the stream came her way. She raised a hand, stopping Shining from interfering, and -using said same hand- stopped the stream.

"Aquarius!"/ _ **They curl into these hands, raging and flowing!**_

Water spun to life in front of the Queen, warping into a small whirlpool before blocking the flames. Vapor rushed passed the Queen -leaving her mind-controlled Shining in the fog- upon contact rose the humidity of the room and left her front vision blocked.

A particular shadow found itself moving swiftly through the steam, catching Chrysalis's attention. Exiting the steam was a simple dagger, make and design a manufactured product, that she slashed at with two glowing fingers.

The second they made contact though, the weapon seemed to shatter into pieces, catching her by surprise.

Unaware of the form approaching her.

Spike wasn't _truly_ thinking ahead so much as thinking what the quickest way to Chrysalis's neck was.

Simple cloak and dagger should do the trick.

He watched the steam from his previous attack, created a flimsy dagger, tossed it and launched himself upon the ceiling corner behind Chrysalis. In the moment it took for him to bodily move across the space, he reached into and pulled a weapon from his Armory.

An assassin's tool, it was. The blade itself being a boring color. Dull grey, with a blade that no light bounced off of. The guard a, barely lighter, gray itself. All of it was a dull, boring, inconspicuous gray, save for the handle which had a black leather grip.

A forgettable blade. An _unnoticeable_ weapon, that helped the wielder become just as much. Dulling all sound, motion and even blurring his own body's appearance.

Perfect for what he needed it to do.

His clawed toes made no sound as he landed on the ceiling corner behind that _bitch_. Grasping Gray Hilt in his hands, he lunged once more. This time for the pleasure of leaving Chrysalis a new mane cut. Possibly along with some nasty scars, but hey he wasn't a barber.

Yet, right as he was halfway upon her, a lone strand of her mane seemed to lift. Even within his anger filled mind, he grasped this fact as unusual. That wasn't the only thing either. As he took notice of a triplet of misplaced white jagged lines on her neck.

His expression turning to shock as she tilted her head backward.

Her unimpressed eyes peering into his startled orbs.

Chrysalis's horn blipped into its magic aura for a mere second and yet he found his movement arrested and his body tossed, his form lurching from those scant few feet of distance between him and the Queen's neck.

Blown across the room near a currently frowning Naruto. The blonde in question stood in his little bubble, watching on as Spike hit the ground, a worried frown on his muzzle.

His horns glowed gold, the aura extending to his right forearm, an overlaid image of a battering ram lining over the limb before disappearing. He brought the arm to chest level before the changeling male swung.

Like glass, the orb cracked and broke against his outer-shell upon contact. Shining didn't seem surprised in the least, which the blonde was expecting.

It was he himself who'd taught Naruto how to break basic shield spells with ease. Better to use a little magic than waste any of his stamina.

Especially because that shield was hardly anything the Shining of today would be proud of. That thing could probably hold a rampaging Chimera at best. The captain had better, more versatile skills that the spymaster needed to keep track of.

As the Spike got up, Naruto moved in front of him causing the teen to look up at him and growl.

Naruto felt this attitude was going to be put to a stop. _Now_.

" _Spike!"_

With that lone exclamation, he brought his chakra to the forefront.

Not unlike Chrysalis's minor glow of the horn, he only allowed his chakra to bear down on Spike for a moment.

Yet, a moment was all it took. For both Spike and everyone else.

First, it was the pressure. Like gales of wind blowing outwards from the King en masse. Then came the weight, dropping down on all who were in the hall. And last came the damage, as cracks spread from his hooves and formed along the walls. The King's chakra shook the room with a resounding burst of noise.

Yet, as he deemed it, it was only a moment before he let his chakra rest. Leaving in its absence, a damaged wedding room and a cowed dragon.

* * *

At that same moment, the changelings outside of the wedding venue came to a collective stop. Their senses going haywire, as the presence of another Monarch rose sky high.

Most of their heads snapping in the direction of the outburst, stopping them in their tracks, giving ample time for some of their terrified prey to run and hide. Or, in the case of the Royal Guard, allow them chances to recoup or attack.

* * *

Aurelia's head snapped towards the castle, her eyes widening, as her body tensed.

"This… this isn't magic," she muttered, as the presence behind the spike of unknown energy made itself known.

Her eyes widened before a smirk broke out upon her face.

A _challenge_.

Wings burst from her back as she launched herself from one of the towers in the corner of Canterlot. Leaving behind a battalion of knocked out Royal Guards.

* * *

Nympha's actions came to a halt. Her hand, currently holding the chin of a light tan unicorn male, stopped it's caressing.

'What is… It's him!' her eyes went wide as she turned her head towards the castle.

Her eyes then narrowed before she turned back to her lone, awake, captive guest.

All around them lay ponies, both civilians and Royal Guards, all in a state of unconsciousness; whether beaten or otherwise.

"It seems I am needed elsewhere, 'Donut Joe'," she said.

The scared, and slightly aroused, donut maker shook slightly as she ran a lone finger down his chest. Quick as a whip, she had him in a full body hug before dipping the pony into a deep kiss.

Thirty seconds later, the Queen exited the donut shop. Turning her head in the direction of the castle, she narrowed her eyes once more, crouched and leaped towards it. The earth left behind cracked and uplifted.

* * *

Moondancer's head moved in the direction of Naruto's presence. She could tell it was him so accurately, even though she was sure he wasn't using his magic.

'It's possible that he's using his chakra instead,' she surmised before turning her attention back to the group of changelings that barred her path.

An array of changelings met her sight, probably a dozen or so, of different colored eyes; Six red ones, two males, and four females. Four green, with three males and one female. One blue male and 1 yellow female.

Among them, they all wore a random assortment of clothes that clearly mismatched in culture and/or era. The most distinctive physical difference was probably between the yellow and the rest.

The yellow-eyed changeling was more built than the rest. Her form still feminine but Moondancer had no doubts that she was far stronger than the others.

Taking their distraction as her chance, her skirt disappeared at the flicker of her horn leaving a pair of dark, knee-high tights in their place.

Her clothes adorned, she saw the changelings still distracted and took her shot.

A quick flick of the glowing finger to her Black Cross necklace and she launched herself towards the yellow one.

The changeling turned around just in time to catch a fist to her face before Moondancer twirled and slammed an elbow into the bug's side, horn glowing.

She watched the changeling fly away for a moment before turning to the now more attentive others.

She lunged towards the blue one, who let out a yelp before jumping backward and away from her. She made to follow after him but turned on a dime to dodge a pair of greens.

She saw them pass her before she ducked to dodge a pair of magic beams from above.

Eyes turning upward, she caught sight of the other two green ones, their wings out, as they took more shots at her.

Her horn glowed for a moment before she had to dodge again, from what could only be a pair of three-headed chimeras. Each one made up of a lion's head and body, an extra deer head, and a tail made of a centipede.

'Whoa!' she couldn't help but think, as she surveyed those in front of her. The beasts had honestly come out of nowhere, which didn't make sense, unless…

Her eyes narrowed as the chimeras came at her again, leaving her to jump over one and swerve past the other. Yet, as the second one passed her, she slapped the centipede head right in the eyeball.

"OW! Oh my Queen, that hurts!" It screamed, as it furiously waved about. A noticeable "buzz" in its, his, voice.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching." the deer head stated dismissively, a buzz to its own voice that proved her hypothesis.

"Shut up! You're not currently the damn tail with no arms!"

'As I thought.'

So she was right, the red ones were the chimeras.

'A fusion? Hmm, I couldn't ask Naruto about this, he's only one changeling. So this is an ability of many changelings. Or is it perhaps only related to the red-eyed ones?' Moondancer pondered for a moment. The transformed changelings finished their squabbling before paying attention to her again.

Her eyebrows creased as they caught eyes but she shot backward from a pair of crossing beams from her sides. The researcher continued this pattern as more beams rained from above her from the flying pair.

'I need space.'

Her horn glowed, yet as it did she was blindsided by a kick from her side.

"Ah!" she yelled as pain burst from her left side. She rolled for a bit before regaining her footing. Enough so to catch sight of the hole-filled hoof of the yellow changeling from earlier.

She seemed no worse for wear, a couple scuffs on her exoskeleton seemed to be all that her surprised hits afforded her.

Said changeling rubbed her jaw for a moment, yet didn't take her eyes off the unassuming pony.

"I gotta say, I wasn't expecting any of you civvies to actually hit that hard. At least, not from one that isn't a hard-working earth pony. Especially not a pony in Canterlot that isn't in the Guards." Releasing her chin, the yellow-eyed changeling reassessed her.

"Doesn't matter. We gotta take her down. Invasion potential, remember?! She's on the list!" The yellow's expression soured at the sound of the chimera's voice as one pulled up next to her.

"Ya reds are all so damn impatient."

"I don't wanna hear that from a yellow. You guys barely have enough to mobilize without looking like you're stretching yourselves thin."

"We don't need bloated numbers like a certain hive to get things done. You guys probably follow a 'hit with numbers' plan to beat ANYTHING."

"Why I oughta-!"

"Merciful Queen above us, this is what we get for working with _other_ hives. They don't got no semblance of strategy. One's a muscle head and the others don't have a single brain between the sum," scoffed a green male, as his hive squad nodded with him.

"What was that?!" exclaimed the red and yellow changelings at the green's remark.

She didn't waste any of her good luck, as she quickly used a glowing finger to mark an insignia on the ground.

Yet, as she finished one of her preparations the greens all perked up and turned towards her with narrowed eyes. She caught eyes with them as her sigil disappeared.

"She's up to something!"

 _And_ with that, all eyes were on her.

She sighed before getting up and dusting off her clothes.

This was about to get troublesome.

* * *

He stared down at Spike, the drake's eyes wide and aware of him, before the dragon's pupils returned to their normal width.

Blinking up at the blonde, he looked down in shame as Naruto put a hand to Spike's shoulder.

Chrysalis and Shining seemed to have other ideas.

Just as he'd laid a hand on Spike's shoulder, a lime green aura wrapped itself around the duo with Shining charging forward.

It took Naruto a moment to release himself from Chrysalis's telekinetic grip, Spike still struggling for a bit, before the unicorn captain was upon him.

Right as Shining swung, a whistle of wind pierced the air. The brainwashed unicorn turned on a dime, swinging thrice and slicing the arrows aimed his way. Looking in the direction of the projectiles, Dinky locked eyes with him and smirked.

Spike's marefriend currently stood atop one of the windowsills, crouched and prepped at the ready.

The Monarch Queen stared at Dinky, as the teenaged pony hefted a purple crystalline bow. The bow was slightly large, especially for the young mare, the length of it being three-fourths her height. She noted no quiver on the small blond.

'Possibly material creation.' Her eyes flickered to the floor, wherein cracks laid. 'There's also the chance she changed a few loose rocks.'

No matter, it was of little consequence how much these ponies wished to delay the inevitable.

She heard a grunt to her front and watched as the dragon finally broke free of her grasp.

The moment her eyes turned to the dragon, a rather unusual cowlick lifted from the top of her membrane-mane as she sniffed-

Lightning rained down from above, in a single large bolt.

* * *

The dragon and changeling duo rose their arms up in unison, shielding themselves from the explosive winds.

Once it died down, they lowered their limbs to see a large amount of smoke gathered in the hall. Coughing from venue goers and guards sounded throughout the room, as the two heard the sounds of clopping hooves approaching them.

"Naruto!/Spike!" Cried out the approaching group as Naruto saw his and Spike's family breaking through the errant smoke screen. Following behind them, he saw the Elements of Harmony right behind them.

Derpy with Gallant, Dinky, and Amethyst came up to his side, while Twilight, her parents, and her friends, came up to Spike. Trixie brought up the rear behind them, along with that little teen pony, who he was sure wasn't a pony, with her.

Derpy looked at him in worry for a moment, Gallant doing the same before the blonde smiled at them. He frowned at the pony next to Trixie, who looked down before Trixie shook her head at him.

His eyebrow rose before turning back to his wife and child.

"We're fine. Honestly, I'm more worried about…!" the Monarch began to say, only to stop short as his senses went haywire.

He and all those capable of sensing capability turned as one as the invading presence filled the room.

Looking into the clearing smoke, the spymaster could make out the form of 'something' serpent-like curling in the smoke before it clear revealing nothing more than Chrysalis and Shining Armor.

The mind-controlled captain seemed pretty irritated by the backhanded maneuver of the ponies in front of him. His eyes focusing in on Derpy Hooves, Twilight, and Trixie.

'Three more Invasion Potentials,' he thought with a slight crease in his face, his helmet hiding his expression from everyone else. His eyes moved upward, watching the slightly distorted air curl and move in front of and behind him. More likely than not, it was doing so around Chrysalis with his being just an addition if anything.

Chrysalis stared out towards the smoke obscuring her vision. While it might be blocking her sight, her senses were still sharp and aware of the now larger group assembled against her.

She could also sense the presences of her sisters coming ever closer.

A flash of trailing lights flickered through the smoke before it dispersed. Standing across from her were the various "Invasion Potentials" that she'd described to her army with help from Shining Armor. All of them, now transformed not unlike Shining himself. All in some form of combat attire sans a few.

The blonde pegasus, "Derpy Hooves", mother of one, now stood in a black muscle shirt and dark gray gi pants with her cutie marks on the ends. Around her neck was a small orange scarf, with matching fighting gloves, and a black karate belt with seven yellow bands across one of its trailing "tails".

The smaller blonde unicorn, "Dinky Hooves", was wearing a long sleeve red top and brown pants secured with silver bands. On her left arm, leading up to her shoulder, was a black, leather guard. On left hand, across all her fingers sans the thumb, were gold rings. The bow still in her grip.

The Element of Magic, "Twilight Sparkle", was currently sporting dark purple pants and a dark blue tank top with her cutie mark on it. Over the tank top, she wore a small pinkish purple jacket with small badges shaped like her cutie mark at her collar.

Second to last of those changed was the little dragon, "Spike Solaris". A skin-tight, short-sleeved, dark shirt and dark colored pants. Brown straps secured the pants around his thighs and a half-kilt of purple cloth and silver metal to his waist. To finish off, a steel chest plate covered his top, runes lining its sides.

Last, but certainly the biggest threat to her campaign in Canterlot, stood the blonde changeling King.

Orange cargos with bandages around the left thigh and a pouch tied around said wrappings. A sleeveless blue shirt that was covered by a bright orange hooded mantle, golden cords tying up the front and red flames lining the end, that reached his thighs. Finishing off his look, was a headband with a metal plate that held a strange symbol in its center.

'Hmm.' With a thought, a yellow film enveloped her vision and showed her the world anew. She had to squint, pupils becoming slits, as they slid across the Monarch across from her before she noted the others.

'As I thought.'

She looked at the now blackened figures of the group and noted several brightly shining objects on the little pony archer's fingers, one around the dragon's torso, two at the collar of the purple unicorn, and, out of the corner of her vision, Shining's sword.

There were a few other tiny lights on all the Invasion Potentials' bodies but they were of little consequence.

'Magical artifacts. More than likely self-crafted,' she couldn't help but note, seeing the similar magical signature between her opposition and some of their accessories. 'That would leave the King and 'Derpy Hooves' as the only two without any on them.' Obviously sans the tiny lights on most of the group save for the rest of the Elements and that little changeling girl.

Which just brought her attention to the other metaphorical elephants in the room.

Who was this little changeling? Why did she feel just like her _sister_? Who was that _other_ tiny little changeling in the arms of the middle child of the Hooves family? That child clearly felt like the King but like the little changeling girl in comparison.

She had too many questions and not enough answers. For the meantime, she'd simply ignore it. It had little to do with her conquest of Canterlot and she could always come back to it, once everything was over.

The King standing against her frowned before jabbing a finger at his headband.

'It's time to end this here and now.'

* * *

"Guys..." He spoke before turning towards the others

He caught Spike's eye but the young dragon simply snorted, smoke billowing from his snout, causing the spymaster's eyebrow to twitch. Turning to Twilight, he saw her nod her head.

"Come on girls, it's time to start cleaning up some of this," the purple unicorn said as she turned towards the broken down wedding doors. The next moment saw the Elements of Harmony, Trixie, and Trixie's guest, disappearing from the hall in a flash. Shining grit his teeth at the sight.

To the far left of where Chrysalis stood, Celestia uttered something to Bright, the other unicorn captain nodding discreetly.

The male twin of two nodded before he ran towards the hall doors. Yet, as he was halfway there, a flash of light shot up from the ground in front of him. Skidding to a stop, the other unicorn captain in the room stared up at the wall of light blocking his way, the cutie mark on the spell telling him exactly who had stopped him.

"Shining!" Bright turned with a shout, eyes zeroing in on the Shield Spell expert as Shining Armor lowered his free hand.

Naruto noticed Chrysalis's attention wane from him for a single second.

That was all the opening he needed as his finger swiped past his bangle, his form disappearing from his very spot.

* * *

"We can't have that Bright. I won't allow you to get in the wa-!" Shining began to speak only for him to catch the sight of an orange-wearing blonde hanging in the air next to his Queen.

Eyes wide, he saw as the blonde's leg swung out, the air screaming as the limb sliced through it towards Chrysalis's head.

The Queen herself seemed only barely aware of it, going by the slow turn of her head and the just as slow widening of her eyes.

The controlled captain had half a second to respond and dual-natured spell rang across his mind.

'Accelerate!'

His mind sped up, his magic circulating faster at the mental command spell, even as the opposing blonde's own speed dwarfed his own this spell gave his abilities enough leeway.

In the half of a second left before contact between Naruto's leg and Chrysalis, light expanded from the assumed point of contact. Spreading and building into a dome that sported his own cutie mark with three-dimensional diamonds dotting the dome's edges.

 _ **Barrier Mk. II**_

And just like that, upon complete construction did the blonde's hole-filled hoof made contact.

Chrysalis barely found herself falling back on her rump, body shaking a slight degree as she saw the blonde's hoove heading towards her, felt the impending "bang" of it making contact and yet she remained unharmed.

Well, physically anyway. Her mind was still processing what had just happened. In the effort to do so, she surveyed her surroundings to find broken stone, collapsed tile, and falling marble greeting her. Save for the area surrounding her, which remained smooth and unaffected save a few cracks, anywhere else was ferociously uplifted and throw in her direction.

'H-he's just as, no, he's _faster_ than Aurelia!'

She quickly shot to her hooves, movements unsteady, before regaining her bearings. Her eyes focused on-he was gone.

Another rocking of her purple dome sent her to her knees, hands to the floor, as waves of dirt, rock, and debris, blasted past her dome another time.

"Ugh!"

Shining Armor, seeing the predicament she was in, moved to help but found himself accosted by an arrow exploding at his hooves.

"Wha-Ummpf!" he voiced before he was cut off by a drop in by Derpy. The blonde pegasus catching him mid-flight, Arm around his neck and armpit, before proceeding to twist and toss him further towards a stain glass window.

His eyes went wide, even as he tumbled, catching onto their plan.

He couldn't be too far away or else Naruto's countless barrages would no doubt break the spell.

And his fears came to pass.

It was all too soon that cracks were forming on the dome. The crystals at their lock points on its edges glowing sporadically with edge passing moment.

"It's over!"

And shattered glass filled the air.

* * *

Naruto could already see that his next hit would break the shield to pieces.

He feint to the side, a fading image in his wake, before appearing above the shield his leg extended as he spun vertically.

At his last rotation, he shouted.

"It's over!"

The King's hoof broke through the shield, shattered flecks of the barrier breaking like glass. The limb continued towards her shining temple, only to be stopped by an opposing limb.

* * *

Chrysalis knew that she didn't have much time left to formulate a plan.

So, she improvised.

Her horn glowed, the space in front of the base of her horn found an eye forming there. Her brain processes went into overdrive, her telekinesis forming around her body right as his hoof came closer.

Her senses, now working overdrive, felt the presences of her reinforcement and she grinned.

Then there was a form in front of her, halting the limb with a loud "SMACK", and a shadow passing over above.

The blonde watched the ground break and shatter between hole-filled hooves but the owner seemed more enthused than stressed.

In fact, SHE was grinning up at him with this look that he understood all too well. Yellow membrane-mane and eyes peering up at him from her position holding his outstretched leg.

He only had a moment, before he twisted sideways, his other hoof sweeping into the hand holding him before he changed.

Changed into a small mouse who got the hell outta Dodge as a black shell-covered fist fell like a sledgehammer from above and destroyed any semblance of a floor beneath it.

The now-mouse blonde jumped from each flying pierce of rock and rubble before flipping away from the impact, transforming back into his normal form and skidding to a stop.

The dust cloud was large and when it cleared the blonde could see further down the floor than was probably intended by the design.

His lips tilted into a frown as he saw his new opponents before mentally realizing that things wouldn't be as easy as he originally thought.

* * *

Aurelia stared at the changeling across from her, her eyes wide with delight and eager for a challenge. He seemed to be just like they, as that little changeling girl had said.

Another Monarch. And, from what she could sense and see, he was strong.

Her grin widened just smidge more. Ever still, her eyes roamed across all the opponents in the room.

Eyes falling over the children before passing over them completely, eyes falling on the only other one here of interest of the Potentials.

'Derpy Hooves' seemed to catch her gaze as well, her body growing taut with tension as she narrowed her one revealed eye. Aurelia stared at her for a moment, before nodding.

Not as well as the King but just as interesting. She was starting to wonder why she thought this was a bad idea, again.

Still, eyes on the prize. Turning her eyes towards Chrysalis, she looked to speak before the words died in her throat.

An emerald and one black-ringed emerald eye looked forward towards the King. Her membrane darkening in places while still retaining its main color. An eye opened on her forehead, as a glow fell from her body.

Out of the corner of her peripheral, she caught Nympha a good distance away from their sister and couldn't blame her. The minute shivers in the Red Hive Queen's hands was hard to see if you weren't looking for it.

Allowing a frown to settle, she turned back to the frowning King, who seemed to be assessing the situation. That got her a bit of her cheer back.

'So he's not all brawn and no brains. Good! That'll make this far more enjoyable.'

Then things got hot!

* * *

Nympha had already thought up well over thirty-four different things she'd be doing to the changeling across from them, had the circumstances been different.

Sweet Tartarus, she was pretty much planning out how this was going to happen, once this invasion was over with!

Yet, still, she shifted her position a little bit more to her left. Hands clenched into fists, even as her face remained neutral, doing her best to not look at Chrysalis.

When this was all over... She'd never come to another meeting again. Not if Chrysalis was involved. Fuck her.

Turning thoughts back to the positive, she leered up and down the King, noting 'Derpy Hooves' small growl from her side. Turning towards her, said growled turned into a stunned expression as the Red Queen proceeded to leer _her_ up as well.

Children were children but these adults were, mmm! Even that Shining Pony over there, with the armor on, was looking mighty fin- Why was his horn glowing?

Then the world got hotter!

* * *

Naruto blinked, as the pure _ray_ of heat and fire blasted all those in Chrysalis's corner as well as took out a good portion of the wall.

Turning from the rising smoke, noting that there seemed to be a lot of that in the past five minutes, he found Celestia as the source of the beam.

Seeing him look her way, the Princess of the Sun let out a slight snort as she walked over. Hooves clopping against the broken floor as the two turned towards the now "open" wedding venue.

See the dripping slag fall from the ceiling, Naruto shrugged. The view of the large, burning crater in the side of the mountain that was encompassed in Shining's Grand Barrier was telling of the amount of power she'd held back.

He was sure that she could have burned through it but that was only from his own speculation. Yet, still, it wouldn't do to take Shining Armor lightly. So, he found the power that WAS behind the attack quite large.

No kill quite like overkill. Besides…

His eyes narrowed as he stared into the distance. The partially melted walls not taking his attention away from the mania going on down below in Canterlot.

His displeased expression turned into one of determination as he crossed his fingers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A single clone phased into existence at his call. Turning towards it, he nodded at it and, the clone reciprocating the gesture, leaped off into the city.

As it fell, several puffs of smoke enshrouded it before one turned into twenty. He'd been about to turn his attention back towards the smoking hole in the mountain when streams of light barrelled out from the smoke.

Those shining lights destroyed the distance between the mountain wall and the wedding venue before breaking into a veritable storm of violent red streaks of light.

Most of his clones hadn't had a chance to react during the fall.

One after the other they poofed out of existence, expressions of shock registering on their faces as they met their shining ends.

A few had been quick on the uptake, quickly forming their own body doubles and being tossed out of the way as the light attacks burst through their newly minted clones and then some.

It was far less than half he saw left and yet it was not meant to be.

A shadow trailed from underneath the previous attack, plowing into an unsuspecting clone before snapping towards the next, finishing off his shadow clones with naught but a thought. The shadow receding just as quickly as it came back into the less smoky mountainside.

His eyes rose towards the dispersing smoke from the side of the mountain and caught sight of the grinning red membrane-maned Queen, a smirking yellow one, a focused Shining, and Chrysalis who was looking a might bit smug as she released the gathering shine from her gnarled horn.

"Move!" Naruto shouted a second after making eye contact with the Green Hive Queen.

The wedding venue found itself engulfed by a wicked blast of magical power, the energy itself hitting the opposing side of the shield Shining had originally set up before dispersing.

* * *

Chrysalis looked at her handiwork, the wedding vista exploding in the emerald light that danced in her mismatched eyes. She had no illusions of how many of her opponents still stood.

Even now, as she looked on at the located now bathed in smoke, she could make out the shape of a shining square sat above the wedding venue. The upper roofing was gone, with what remained of the floor being a large circular platform.

She idly noticed that all those civilians from earlier were gone but threw it out of her , she looked down at/ a raised hand of hers.

She turned the limb over and over, inspecting it as if it were some sort of new appendage that had attached itself to her body.

It wasn't wrong to say that Chrysalis was very capable when it came to magic, much more so magic combat, but she couldn't help but marvel at the feeling of the eager energy fluttering throughout her body.

Draining that Cadance had done more than boost her already plentiful reserves, but the fact that Cadance's magic was so interlaced with her Love had pushed her abilities to euphoric levels of power.

She looked back over to her side, staring at Shining Armor she nodded her thanks before focusing back on the opposition.

Yet, before she could even begin to verbally offer a plan, her sisters took action.

Nympha had already leaped from the mountainside to the roofs of Canterlot, her form jumping for significant distances as she approached their previous location. Little wonder on who she had planned to engage in combat.

Aurelia was farther ahead, simply due to the fact that she could fly. The Yellow Hive Mind leader's figure destroying the distance between her and the King's location.

Chrysalis felt her irritation rise tremendously. Who did those two sla-idiots think they were?!

She growled at the stupidity of the lower beings before she let out a deep breath.

Fine. FINE! If this was the game they were going to play, who was she to be remiss of them exhausting the enemy forces?

Mother above, she was too old for this shit.

With a quick gesture, Shining stood at the ready, as her horn glowed.

* * *

From their position on the now circular platform, with the world around them being open to viewing, they could now fully take account of the chaos running throughout Canterlot.

Dinky and Spike grimaced, the latter growling as he did, as they tightened their holds on their weapons.

Derpy wasn't looking any better, a sad expression settling over her face.

Naruto and Celestia both frowned, the former's eyes narrowing as the latter's grip on her scepter increased.

"We have to put a stop to this!" Spike growled out, as Dinky looked at him in worry. Seeing her expression he let out a hot breath, a few flickering embers mixed in before he turned back to her with a calmer look. Seeing this, she nodded.

"Spike's right. We have to put a stop to all of this. I can't imagine this is going to get any better as time goes on," Dinky supplied, eyes turning from her drakefriend to the city.

Her yellow eyes glinted, her vision increasing 3 times over, as she eyed small skirmishes happening in streets and roaming canals.

She saw a group of soldiers facing down four yellow changelings, a group of red and green changelings attacking an unsuspecting group of four soldiers en masse.

Even further down below the venue but slightly farther off she could se-!

"Moondancer!" she caught Spike's attention with her yell, the drake looking at her in alarm before Dinky held their hands together. The crest atop her Cutie Mark glowed, as did Spike's eyes before his face contorted into an expression of anger.

"Those bastards!" he growled before he turned his attention back to his mom and Naruto.

Right as he was about to say something, he saw their eyes focused straight in front of them. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Derpy, slightly behind the two, crouched and tensed.

His gaze snapped back to the mountain only to find himself alarmed at the incoming changeling Queen heading their way.

"Naruto…" Celestia spoke up, neither of them taking their eyes off the increasingly growing form of the changeling Queens.

"Yeah?" he responded. She knew that he wouldn't like the sound of her suggestion but it was prudent that they return Shining Armor before anything else arose.

"I wish for Derpy to handle the yellow one." she said, causing the blondes and her son to look at her in surprise.

The expression on the King's face turned to one of confusion.

"I believe that whether we like it or not, we're going to need to separate the three of them. I know of your capabilities and while I'm sure that having two in one area would be possible, it's not when Shining Armor is on their side," she began.

"But Princess.../Mom!" Dinky and Spike cried out.

Derpy frowned herself, looking down at her hands.

* * *

" _Okay, that's enough!"_

 _The two teens slumped down to the floor, breaths haggard as they sat there in their singed, blackened in places, clothing._

 _Spike looked up from where he laid on the floor, as Dinky tried and failed to catch her breath next to him._

 _Derpy looked down in worry as she allowed the last bits of static to fade. Walking over to them, she bent down to check up on Dinky, who smiled up at her._

" _Ma…. you're so STRONG," her little sister wheezed, eyes bright._

" _You're damn right she is," Spike spoke up next to them, only to flinch at the frown on his mothers' faces._

" _ **Spike,**_ _" the echoed in unison, as Twilight's family and Celestia looked on from the sides of the cliff face arena they sat in._

" _Sorry moms."_

" _That went about… nah, not gonna lie. Derpy dusted you two," Naruto said as he leaped from the "stands" into the "arena". Looking over the two, he grinned._

 _Derpy was surprisingly versatile with the skillset she'd honed over the years._

 _Combining her martial arts along with her innate pegasus magic came up with very…. shocking results._

 _Derpy frowned further, as she looked down at her hands. Clenching them once or twice, before she sighed._

" _I… I'm not sure if I really like this. I took martial arts because it made me feel_ better _. This…" She looked down at her sister and Spike and grimaced._

 _She saw her husband's grin fall and felt even worse for it being because of her._

 _Ponies simply didn't like conflict… well, most of them didn't. There were a few who were rowdy, desired to serve their country and protect their loved ones._

 _Save for one of the above mentioned, they were all NECESSARY things. She simply didn't see the need for her to even HAVE what she currently did._

 _She never planned on going on a long adventure, as ironic as that was with her imagination, to fight against actual monsters and the like._

 _She was a housewife, mother of one, manager and wife. She wasn't a battle-seeker._

 _Looking up she saw Naruto walking over but Celestia stopped him. A look passed his way before she continued on over to her. Naruto saw fit to walk over to Spike and Dinky to give them pointers._

" _Mrs. Hooves, do you mind if we can talk a little bit aways?" The princess smiled at her as she asked._

 _Really, Derpy would have done close to anything she'd ask. This was the_ princess _!_

 _Nodding nervously, they walked to a little corner of the "arena" as Naruto sent the children back up and called down a hooting Trixie and groaning Twilight._

 _Turning away from the bantering unicorns, she gave the princess her full attention._

 _Celestia stared into her eyes for a moment before nodding her head._

" _You don't like this, do you?" the princess asked, cutting straight to the point, causing the pegasus to flinch. Nodding her head, she looked out over the edge of the floating plateau they stood on. The skies were nice today._

" _..."_

" _..."_

" _... I honestly see no point." Hearing her response the princess actually smiled._

" _That's good. The last thing I'd need is to know that my little ponies were getting battle hungry." Derpy blinked._

" _Wait really?"_

" _Really. That said, I would like to say this." She turned towards her, the princess's purple eyes staring into her own yellow ones. "If a time came where you needed to protect what you held dear, would you not like the power to do so?"_

" _But this is excessive! Everything I can do nowadays is because Naruto would keep encouraging me to use my creativity. My B-"_

" _Yes, I'm very aware of Naruto's influence on ponies such as yourselves."_

 _Neither of them needed to turn back to see the source of the explosions, shouts and sounds coming from behind._

" _Naruto is an inspiring changeling. He encourages others to push forward, whether he knows it or not. That said, his influence can be… less than ideal, regardless of how well-intentioned they might be."_

 _Spike, Twilight, Trixie, Moondancer, Dinky. All easily impressionable children who were around him at the time, all of whom, in some form or another, followed him in his ways. Some good, some not._

 _That's probably why they all seemed to be battle-maniacs in some form or another._

" _Princess, what do YOU think about my current," she tried to find the right word for it, " dilemma."_

 _Celestia hummed._

" _I think I'd rather have more ponies like you." Derpy blinked._

" _Like me?"_

" _Yes. More ponies with great power who have it but feel it unnecessary. " Celestia chuckled. "Just because you have power doesn't mean you're going to be a monster. You need look no further than those behind us."_

 _Another explosion caused the platform to shudder as Trixie's wails, and Twilight's shout of triumph, breached their ears._

" _I think Twilight no different from when she was a filly. Powerful now? Yes. Yet, she's still that same eager, intelligent and curious filly she was many years ago._

" _If you truly believe that this endeavor isn't fulfilling to you, simply talk with Naruto about it. Yet, remember, power doesn't decide what you become. Only you can make of it what you want to."_

 _She looked down at her hands in thought, processing Celestia's words._

* * *

Clenching them into fists, her brows furrowed as she looked up to everyone else. Catching Naruto's eyes, she nodded.

The changeling King kept her gaze for a few moments before he smiled and nodded.

"What about us?!"

As Celestia kept watch of the incoming Queens, Naruto turned to look at the two teens in their midst.

Spike was looking annoyed while Dinky shuffled in place a bit, eyes meeting his own in confusion.

Scratching his head, he thought for a moment before he turned his attention back to the outer city.

"I want you two to go and find Moondancer," he finally said, causing both to look at him incredulously.

"But-!"

"No buts!" he shouted, causing both of them to flinch backward. He let out a breath before he leveled them with a confident look.

"We don't have the time, and I don't think you guys are strong enough to face one of these guys. Not now, not yet." Seeing the look on the face of Spike, his frustration mounting, Naruto gave him two firm claps on his shoulders.

They both ignored the sound of erupting energy and the feel of the rising heat behind Naruto.

"Spike, I'm entrusting you guys to follow through on this. I want all of you guys safe. Twilight and her friends have Trixie with them, but Moondancer is all alone." He made sure to impress this upon his surrogate little brother. "I need you and Dinky to group up with her and make sure you ALL make it through this without being captured or too hurt."

Letting go of Spike's shoulders, he stood up to his full height but not before extending his fist out towards the two teens.

He grinned.

"Can I entrust this to you?"

The looked at him, shines in their eyes before they steeled. Hardened emerald and tempered topaz locked with the changeling King's brimming sapphires before they slammed their fists together.

"Of course!"

"Totally!"

His grin stretched just a bit farther.

"Then get to it!"

"Alright! Spike!" Dinky spoke, running to her partner, the drake already running towards the opposite side of the broken venue.

"Already on it!"

The young dragon's wings flexed outward as he took that last step before leaping off into the air and diving over the edge.

Dinky, not far behind, also made that leap off the ledge. Her form also disappeared over the edge only to resurface on Spike's back. The two soaring off, circling around the area before taking off towards Moondancer's previous location.

He looked at them for a moment before his own eyes straightened as he walked back to stand with both Celestia and Derpy.

All three stood tall and at the ready.

The grinning visage of Aurelia meeting them.

 _ **~NRK~**_

 _ **So yeah... Nope, no excuse, I'm late as all hell with only basically 10k words to show for it.**_

 _ **I could go on and on about the reasons, early morning work, online courses and the like. Vidya games and reading other fanfiction, FGO, and Reddit, but in the end I just never found the mood to write.**_

 _ **So I'm just going to apologize for keeping all of you guys for so long and let this chapter speak for me.**_

 _ **Though I will say that writing the parts near the end, the section with Derpy's flashback a little bit hard to get out. I still don't think I wrote it right but whatever.**_

 _ **I'm working on getting back into the groove, so we can actually see the end to this damn thing.**_

 _ **So yeah, NRK out and back at it.**_

 _ **Hopefully, there won't be a long ass lull this time. And considering I'm finally DONE DONE with the fight setups, this might be true.**_

 _ **~NRK Out~**_


End file.
